Ruling on Motion to Recognize Witness as Victim Postponed

The Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction (Shengavit courthouse) continued today the examination of the case concerning the alleged overthrow of the constitutional order, presided over by Judge Anna Danibekyan. At the beginning of the session, the judge announced that a motion had been received in court back on October 4, 2019, by the lawyer of witness Babken Mkrtchyan, Zorair Harutyunyan, regarding recognizing Mkrtchyan as a victim. This information was reported by the legal team of Armenia's second president Robert Kocharyan.

The lawyer stated that Babken Mkrtchyan, who served in the internal troops, sustained multiple bodily injuries as a result of the events of March 1, 2008, which caused him to now have a disability of the third degree. It is also known that Mkrtchyan has a victim status in a detached part of the main March 1 case. The prosecutors representing the accusing side did not object. The defense also did not object, but reminded that a victim cannot exist in this case. 'A victim cannot exist in this case, but if someone has a procedural status of a victim, then the defenders do not object to that,' said defense attorney Aram Orbelian.

Defense attorney Khudoyan noted that it should be documented that this person's rights have been violated for already 1.5 years. The lawyer of Armen Gevorgyan, Erik Aleksanyan, emphasized that this case does not pertain to facts of murders or inflicting bodily harm, hence there cannot be a victim in this case.

After hearing the parties, the court found that at this stage of the proceedings, it is not possible to resolve the motion, as Mkrtchyan is called as a witness in this case and must provide testimony. The court postponed the resolution of the motion, considering that it is necessary to refer to the factual circumstances of the case.