Court Hearing Postponed Until September 8: Yuri Khachaturov's Lawyer Unable to Attend

The Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction, presided over by Judge Anna Danibekyan, has postponed today's hearing as the defense lawyer for the former Chief of the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense, Yuri Khachaturov, Mihran Poghosyan, was unable to attend. This information was shared by Elina Saakova, the spokesperson for Robert Kocharyan's legal team, on her Facebook page.

Poghosyan had submitted a written request to the court explaining that he could not be present at today’s hearing due to unexpected issues. It is noteworthy that Mihran Poghosyan was planning to submit a motion for recusal against the presiding judge, Anna Danibekyan.

Prosecutor Gevorg Baghdasaryan requested that the lawyer's absence be deemed unnecessary, arguing that it was merely a pretext to delay the proceedings. Aram Vardevanyan, a defense lawyer for the second President of the Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, stated that it would be more appropriate for Mihran Poghosyan to present the reasons for his absence personally and that discussions related to this should take place in his presence.

Additionally, lawyer Vardges Gevorgyan has suspended the powers of the former Deputy Prime Minister Aram Gevorgyan's attorney, while another lawyer, Erich Aleksanyan, will be on annual leave from August 12 until September 1. The notice of this vacation has caused discontent among prosecuting attorneys and representatives of the injured party. In response, defense lawyer Vardevanyan reminded that no one complained when the presiding judge decided to take annual leave starting in early December last year, which resulted in several hearings being canceled.

In turn, defense lawyer Hayk Alumyanyan recalled that there was no hearing for about a month and a half in the spring, and no information regarding the reasons for this was provided by the judge’s staff. Taking into account Mihran Poghosyan's absence and Erich Aleksanyan's upcoming vacation, the court decided to postpone the hearing until September 8 at 13:00.