On January 19, 2010 court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan released the judgment on the case of Nikol Pashinian, Chief Editor of “Haykakan Zhamanak” daily, charged with Part 1 of Article 225 (“Mass riots”) and Part 1 of Article 316 (“Violence against a representative of power“) of RA Criminal Code. As it has been reported, Nikol Pashinian was announced wanted within the criminal proceedings, instituted on the events of March 1, 2008 in Yerevan. On July 1, 2009 he voluntarily surrendered to RA Procuracy. The court hearings on this case started on October 20, 2009 (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, October 16-22, 2009).
According to the judgment, the charges of Nikol Pashinian for violence against a representative of power (Article 316 of RA Criminal Code) were dismissed, but he was found guilty in mass riots (Article 225) and was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment.
Lusine Sahakian, the lawyer of Nikol Pashinian, announced about the intention of appealing the judgment to the higher court jurisdiction.
