YEREVAN. – It is yet unknown when opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) activist Tigran Arakelyan will be released, Arakelyan’s attorney Mushegh Shushanyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

He noted that the activist may be set free when the court makes such ruling, but he could not say how long it will take before such verdict.   

“We demand that Tigran Arakelyan be declared innocent and be acquitted because he has not committed any crime; [instead,] a crime was committed against him,” Shushanyan said.   

To note, Tigran Arakelyan’s trial will take place on October 7.

If no motions are submitted to the court, Arakelyan may be released much earlier; that is, the court will commence the phase of case presentations, have time to return from the consulting room, and, as a result, Arakelyan may be set free in the courtroom.     

Mushegh Shushanyan added that he still has to discuss the motions with his clients.

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 with a group of police officers 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. As a result, six of the young activists were released on signature bond, whereas Arakelyan had remained under arrest.