02 September 2017, 04:39
Court marshals remove journalists from trial in Zhirair Sefilyan's case
On September 1, the court hearing in the case against Zhirair Sefilyan took place in a tense atmosphere, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.
In June 2016, Zhirair Sefilyan was detained on the charge of organizing illegal transportation and storage of weapons. In November, investigators charged him with preparations for seizure of a building. Meanwhile, in May 2015, a case was instituted against Zhirair Sefilyan and four members of the opposition "Constituent Parliament" for plotting mass riots.
At the court hearing on September 1, court marshals used force to remove activist Vardges Gaspari from the courtroom. He requested public defender Marina Tovmasyan to leave the courtroom. In his hands, the activist was holding a poster reading: "I do not need your protection. Zhirair Sefilyan".
Reporters from the "A1+" TV Company tried to shoot on video the incident. However, the court marshals banned the video shooting and used force to remove the journalists from the courtroom.
It should be noted that at the previous court hearing, the court forbade to shoot on video the stage of the witnesses' questioning. However, on September 1, none of the witnesses was questioned, since the court postponed the hearing because of the absence of advocates for Grair Topchyan, one of the defendants.
The journalistic organizations of Armenia have spoken in support of their colleagues from the "A1+" TV Company. They requested the court department to bring to justice the court marshal who used force against the journalists.
"On his own initiative, the court marshal prevented the video shooting and used force to remove the TV Company crew from the courtroom, while the only court ban concerned shooting on video videotape the witnesses' questioning," reports the statement released by the journalistic organizations of Armenia on September 1.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Author: Tigran Petrosyan Source: CK correspondent
