A supporter of President Serzh Sarkisian accused of beating up an Armenian opposition parliamentarian struck a defiant note as he went on trial in Yerevan on Friday.
Arshak Svazian said he is ready to assault anyone who would publicly insult Sarkisian. “Because he is my president commander-in-chief,” Svazian told reporters outside a district court in the capital. “Whoever swears at my president will be punished in the same way.”
Svazian, 41, stands accused of assaulting and injuring Aram Manukian, a parliament deputy from the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) outside the latter’s Yerevan home on December 11. Manukian spent more than a week in hospital as a result.
The incident was one of a series of violent attacks on well-known opposition figures who actively participated in nationwide anti-government rallies organized by the HAK and two other opposition parties last fall.
The opposition trio accused the Armenian authorities of orchestrating the violence to bully its activists. The authorities denied any involvement.
Svazian admitted to the assault later in December. He claimed to have been angered by Manukian’s offensive comments about President Sarkisian made at an opposition rally in September.
Svazian is facing up to 2 months in prison and a small fine for what law-enforcement authorities deemed “light injuries” inflicted on Manukian. The official indictment presented by a prosecutor to the Yerevan court cites “patriotic” motives behind his actions.
The defendant pleaded guilty to the accusations at the start of the trial. Still, he defended his actions and threatened more violence against Sarkisian’s political opponents outside the courtroom.
Manukian, meanwhile, dismissed the official version of events, saying that it amounts to a cover-up of the crime. Both the veteran oppositionist and his lawyer, Armen Khachatrian, claimed that Svazian acted on government orders.
The court rejected Manukian’s demand to order a change of the trial prosecutor. The defendant also opposed the petition.
According to some media reports, Svazian is a former driver of Arakel Movsisian, a pro-government deputy and staunch backer of Sarkisian. Movsisian is notorious for verbally abusing opposition colleagues and journalists.