A court in Yerevan on Friday refused to release from custody Zhirayr Sefilian, a radical opposition figure standing trial for allegedly plotting an armed revolt against the government.
The trial of Sefilian and six other men began in May almost one year after their arrest. They stand accused of forming an armed group to seize government buildings and military facilities.
Sefilian was also charged with planning to provoke “mass disturbances” in Yerevan in 2015. Both he and his Founding Parliament opposition group have denied the charges as politically motivated.
The high-profile trial has been regularly interrupted by disputes between the presiding judge, Tatevik Grigorian, and the defendants as well as their lawyers alleging serious violations of the due process. Sefilian has been repeatedly removed from the courtroom for contempt of court.
Sefilian’s lawyer, Tigran Hayrapetian, demanded at the latest court hearing that his client be set free at least until a verdict in the case. Grigorian rejected the petition.
She also dismissed Hayrapetian’s demand to quit the trial and let another judge take over the case. The lawyer insisted that she is not impartial and favors the prosecution.
Sefilian’s June 2016 arrest came less than a month before three dozen armed men mostly affiliated with Founding Parliament seized a police station in Yerevan. The gunmen demanded that President Serzh Sarkisian free their Lebanese-born leader and step down. They surrendered to law-enforcement authorities following a two-week standoff which left three police officers dead.
The jailed gunmen went on two separate trials in June.
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