Court Recognizes Colonel Shirinyan's Arrest as Unlawful, Lawyer Says

Lawyer Aram Vardevanyan announced on his Facebook page: “Under the chairmanship of Judge Papoyan, our appeal was thoroughly examined. The court decided to grant our appeal and recognized Colonel Shirinyan's arrest as unlawful due to the absence of reasonable suspicion, and he was released from the courtroom immediately. Stop the legal disgrace!”

It is noteworthy that earlier, the Investigative Committee of Armenia had reported: “On December 22, 2020, a criminal case was initiated under Part 1 of Article 226.2 of the RA Criminal Code regarding a statement made by Sayat Shirinyan on the social network 'Facebook', which contained apparent calls for violence: ‘Susanna Avsharyan, if I were the leader of the movement, rest assured, we would take concrete steps, although I do not criticize the organizers, as they avoid bloodshed. But it is already clear that it is impossible without bloodshed.’”

On December 23, 2020, Sayat Shirinyan was arrested on suspicion of making public calls for violence under Part 1 of Article 226.2 of the RA Criminal Code. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.”