On May 14 court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash communities
of Yerevan read out the sentence on the case of correspondent of “Chorrord Ishkhanutiun”
newspaper Gohar Vezirian, accused on Part 3 of Article 343 of RA Criminal Code
(“Disrespect to Court”). As it has been reported, on August 6, 2008 during a
session of the court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash communities
of Yerevan Gohar Vezirian was dismissed from the courtroom upon the order of
Judge Gagik Avetisian. For over 1.5 hours the journalist was kept in the room,
intended for defendants, and later she was taken to the Kentron Police Department.
Staying at the Police for over two hours the correspondent of “Chorrord Ishkhanutiun”
was released. The criminal proceedings were instituted in September, and the
charge was brought against correspondent of “Chorrord Ishkhanutiun” on December
24, 2008. The court hearings started on March 31, 2009 (see YPC Weekly Newsletter,
March 27 – April 2, 2009).
At the session of May 14 the court found Gohar Vezirian guilty and filed her
to a fine in the amount of 350,000 AMD (about $ 950). As lawyer Hovik Arsenian
said to YPC, he is going to appeal the verdict with the upper court jurisdiction.
It should be noted that more than a month ago, on April 17, the same court of
general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash communities sentenced free-lance
journalist Gagik Shamshian to a similar penalty (see YPC Weekly Newsletter,
April 17-23, 2009).
