Serob Ter-Poghosyan was Sentenced to 15 Years of Imprisonment
00:00, November 18, 2011 | Press Release | Children's rights, Right to Fair Trial
On Thursday, the Lori Region Court of Common Jurisdiction sentenced SerobTer-Poghosyan to 15 years of imprisonment. The attorney of the 70 year-old citizen of the USA, who is accused of sexual actions towards his victims against their will, intends to appeal the decision of the Court of First Instance.
Attorney Tigran Safaryan told Azatutyun Radio Station that he and his client did not agree with the charges. He thought they were groundless. Serob Ter-Poghosyan, the owner of Metal Prince Corporation of Akhtala, also declared that, although he did have sexual relations with young and underage men in Akhtala, it was not against their will. The attorney of the businessman insists that having sexual relations with a man for two years reveals that the relationship was consensual and not against the will of one of the partners.
“If, as the plaintiffs argue, a person was in a sexual relationship with Serob Ter-Poghosyan for 2 years, he could not be in a helpless situation for those two years, especially as the court examination revealed that the person telephoned Serob and went to him, and not the other way around.,” said Safaryan.
There are 10 victims involved in the case.
When Azatutyun Radio Station remarked that there were minors among the victims, the attorney stated that in any case Serb Ter-Poghosyan did not commit any actions against their will.
“If a person is up to 16 years old or up to 14, it does not automatically make him helpless. Helpless means the person would not realize what was happening to him and would not perceive the essence of those relations and whether they were good or bad. All of the victims testified in court that they had realized it. The judge even asked what their reaction would be if they were cussed with words describing those actions. They said that they would respond adequately. That is to say, the person understands what is happening,’ said the attorney.
However, Hovsep Sargsyan, Deputy Chief of the Cases Investigated at the National Security Bodies of the Office of the General Prosecutor of Armenia, who was the prosecuting attorney in the case, opposed Serob Ter-Poghosyan’s attorney. The prosecutor stated that the businessman had taken advantage of the bad social conditions of the minors and made them dependent upon him. “In these relations,the children were always in a passive position,” added the prosecuting attorney.
“I do not want to describe the video recordings; nevertheless, the children were in passive positions. The objects of the corpus delicti are not grownups; they are minors and just children. If Serob Ter-Poghosyan had sexual relations with someone according to his will, we would say, “You are gay, your sexual orientation is your constitutional right, so go, do what you want, there is no criminal liability provided for that.” But if the victim is put in a state of material dependency, and the attitude prompts the children to only think about coming out of this material dependence and expressing gratitude in some way, then it is apparent that the victim is in a helpless state,”insisted the prosecuting attorney.
Source: www.azatutyun.am