YEREVAN. – Defendant in Sasna Tsrer case Aram Manukyan stated on Thursday hearing that he did not intend to attend the court session until the judge returns his friends to the courtroom.

At the same time Aram Manukyan demanded from his lawyer to leave the courtroom and not to appear there.

Another defendant, Hovhannes Harutyunyan made a similar comment saying that “the court has turned into a laughing stock.”

The defendant Tatul Tamrazyan joined the action. After that the court applied sanctions against them and declared a recess.

The Sasna Tsrer armed group took over of a police patrol regiment building in Yerevan, took hostages, but later surrendered, in July 2016.