YEREVAN, MAY 18, ARMENPRESS. Chairman of the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation Serzhik Avetisyan has exited the courthouse to personally meet with protesters who are demanding a revision of the sentencing of former military commander Samvel Babayan.

Babayan, a former defense minister of Artsakh, was sentenced to six years in prison for smuggling a shoulder-launched missile system.

“Samvel Babayan’s case has been submitted to the Court of Cassation one month ago, seeking an overruling of the verdict. As you know, there is a three-months period for the Court of Cassation to either launch or not launch proceedings over the complaint. Our demand is for the proceedings to be launched as soon as possible and for an overruling to happen,” analyst Andranik Tevanyan, who was among the protesters, told reporters.

Avetisyan on the other hand said that they can’t set specific dates because it depends on the complexity of the case.

He said that this given case was submitted on April 17 and a decision will be made within the three-month period.

“The response of any given case will be made within the framework of the current legislation”, he said.

Avetisyan said that nobody has pressured him, and that “no one even can”.

Earlier the protesters were rallying outside the Prosecutor General’s Office in downtown Yerevan.

Babayan’s lawyer has applied to the Court of Cassation seeking an overruling of the sentencing of his client. The lawyer’s complaint was earlier rejected by the Court of Appeals.

In the early 2000s Babayan was also convicted for an attempted assassination of Arkady Ghoukasyan, then-President of Nagorno Karabakh.

ENGLISH: Editor/Translator - Stepan Kocharyan