YEREVAN. – The questioning of the defendants in the Sasna Tsrer armed group criminal case continues today at a Yerevan court of first instance.

According to the respective list, the questioning began with defendant Gagik Yeghiazaryan. He said he did not accept the charges against him.

Concerning the killing of Police Colonel Artur Vanoyan, Yeghiazaryan said that both the Sasna Tsrer and the police were shooting at each other in the dark, and therefore it is not known who had killed Vanoyan.

Yeghiazaryan noted that he is not aware of the circumstances behind the killing of senior police officer Gagik Mkrtchyan, and he had only seen him at the checkpoint.

The defendant stated that the police officers who were kept at the patrol regiment were not hostages.

In protest of the then authorities, the Sasna Tsrer armed group took over a police patrol regiment building in Yerevan and held hostages, but later surrendered in July 2016. Three police officers, however, were killed during the two-week standoff.

Criminal charges have been brought against 32 people in connection with this incident and related developments.