Friday’s court hearing in the criminal case of Armenian public and political figure Avetik Chalabyan was rescheduled for next week—and due to his health condition.

Chalabyan's defense attorney Varazdat Harutyunyan told the court that after being released from prison on Thursday, his client underwent a medical examination.

"Doctors diagnosed Avetik Chalabyan with a hypertensive crisis, arterial hypertension of the third degree. Today, when measuring the [blood] pressure, it was 170/100. We wanted to submit a motion to reschedule the court session [today], but Avetik Chalabyan insisted that he wants to participate in today's session," the lawyer added.

Chalabyan, in turn, stated that during his stay in prison, his hypertension had worsened and he has heart perforations.

"I would be grateful if you would put off these hearings for at least a week, so that I have a chance to recover my health," he asked the court.

And presiding Judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan noted that today’s court session cannot take place because a medical report was submitted to the court regarding Chalabyan’s state of health, and therefore scheduled the next court hearing for August 1.

Avetik Chalabyan is charged with making university students materially interested in order to participate in opposition demonstrations.