YEREVAN. – The Court of Cassation returned the objection which opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) activists Tigran Arakelyan, Artak Karapetyan, Sargis Gevorgyan, and Davit Kiramijyan had submitted to the court.  

The activists’ attorney Mushegh Shushanyan told the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am.  

They were demanding that the Court of Cassation overturn the appellate court’s decision and acquit them.   

Shushanyan noted that upon returning the objection, the Court of Cassation had stated that the objection does not comply with the relevant provisions in the Criminal Procedure Code.

Now, the ANC activists plan to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.    

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 Tigran Arakelyan had remained under arrest. But he was released under amnesty on October 14, 2013.