Police submitted a claim against another Mashtots Avenue peaceful protester
13:56, September 22, 2016 | News, Own news | Freedom of Assembly and Association
On September 20, 2016, the RA Administrative Court, presided by A. Tovmasyan, examined the claim of the RA Police against Hasmik Evoyan, participant of the assembly held on March 23, 2016 before examination of the motion on extending Gevorg Safaryan’s detention. The Police required bringing H. Evoyan to administrative responsibility under Article 180.1(11 and 15) of the RA Code of Administrative Offense.
The pretrial court hearing was attended by plaintiff Sona Melikyan, representative of the RA Police and Senior Legal Adviser to Kentron Division of RA Police Yerevan city Department, and defendant Hasmik Evoyan and her representative Tatevik Siradeghyan, lawyer at Yerevan Office of HCA Vanadzor.
At the court hearing, defendant Hasmik Evoyan first established the scope of her representative’s powers through a power of attorney drafted as prescribed by law and then stated that she had no wish to attend the trial examination of the case and left the court room.
Plaintiff’s representative S. Melikyan presented the substance and grounds of the claim, invoked the legal acts to be applied under the case and mentioned that the defendant attended the assembly of March 23, 2016 when the participants blocked the traffic section of Mashtots Avenue and then did not obey the RA Police officers’ orders to open the street and stop obstructing the normal course of the assembly; that was why they were apprehended to Kentron Division of RA Police Yerevan city Department.
After asking S. Melikyan some questions, Defendant’s representative T. Siradeghyan stated that she objected to the claim as H. Evoyan’s behavior contained no features of the acts attributed to her and submitted to the court her response to the claim.
The parties filed no motions on evidence.
The court assigned trial examination of the case.
Note that a number of assembly participants blocked the street by lying on the traffic sector of Mashtots Avenue and chaining themselves to the asphalt. Then they were apprehended by force and taken to Kentron Division of the RA Police Yerevan City Department, where administrative proceedings were initiated against them based on their failure to comply with their duties of assembly participants and obey the legal orders of the police to ensure the peaceful and normal course of the assembly.