Simonyan Pleaded Guilty to Assaulting ANC Youth Activists

Davit Simonyan, earlier criminally charged with physically assaulting Armenian National Congress youth Vladimir Karapetyan, Vahagn Gevorgyan and Sargis Gevorgyan, has pleaded guilty in a court session today at the Court of First Instance of Center and Nork-Marash Communities in Yerevan.

Lawyer Stepan Voskanyan, representing the victims, put forth a motion asking the court to re-classify the charges defined under Articles 117 (beating) and 118 (physical injury) of RA Criminal Code to “hooliganism” and “hindering propaganda.”

But the prosecutor objected, explaining that even though it was mentioned in the case that propaganda was spread, the beating that took place on the day on trial had nothing to do with propaganda and politics and was based on personal grounds. The judge rejected the motion.

Voskanyan made another motion asking the court to include Hermine Matevosyan, Mariam Mouradyan and Davit Matevosyan as witnesses in the case. Matevosyan, at the time, was the head of former chief editor of local Armenian daily Haykakan Zhamanak (“Armenian Times”) Nikol Pashinyan’s election headquarters. Voskanyan mentioned that their testimony could prove that on the very day the ANC youth were spreading propaganda. The judge rejected that motion too.