YEREVAN. – I have no expectations from this court.

Opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) activist Tigran Arakelyan noted the aforesaid on Monday, prior to the start of the trial at the Criminal Court of Appeal . 

He added that this case has turned into a comedy.

“And if something changes, it would mean that something has changed somewhere,” Arakelyan stressed. 

To the remark that the international community is applying pressure in connection with this case, he responded as follows:

“We have to be strong. Otherwise, no pressure will have an affect. I feel good; most likely because I do not take all this seriously.”   

Tigran Arakelyan added that the judges and all other persons behind this case should have sat at the defendant’s chair, in his stead.    

To note, a general jurisdiction court had sentenced ANC activists Tigran Arakelyan, Artak Karapetyan, Sargis Gevorgyan, and Davit Kiramijyan to six, three, and two years, respectively, as a result of an incident that had occurred on August 9, 2011, in capital city Yerevan. The Criminal Court of Appeals had upheld this ruling, and therefore the activists’ attorneys had submitted to the Court of Cassation their objections to this verdict.