Jalal Harutyunyan's Lawyer Accuses Judge of Making Illegal Ruling

In the Court of Cassation, presided over by Judge Mikhtar Papoyan, the proceedings on the appeals against the sentence of former commander of the Artsakh Defense Army, Jalal Harutyunyan, continued today. Jalal Harutyunyan's lawyer, Ashot Apresyan, requested to overturn the judicial act and issue a ruling for acquittal during today’s session. He effectively accused the judge of violating procedural norms and making an illegal judicial ruling.

It should be reminded that Jalal Harutyunyan has been sentenced to 5.5 years in prison. This decision by the first-instance court has been appealed to the RA Court of Cassation, and the accused party, according to the victims, is doing everything possible to delay the sessions in the RA Court of Cassation so that the accused could evade liability due to the statute of limitations.

The statute of limitations for the criminal proceedings initiated against Jalal Harutyunyan will expire in October, and the parents of the victims are alarmed that the sessions will be scheduled very late in the summer, intending to free Harutyunyan from liability. The representative of the legal successors of the victims, Liparit Simonyan, has demanded to strengthen the punishment imposed on Jalal Harutyunyan, proposing an 8-year imprisonment as a penalty.