YEREVAN (Panorama.am) — Judge Armen Danielyan of the Yerevan Court of Criminal Appeals on May 31 refused to release opposition activist Avetik Chalabyan from prison, upholding a lower court ruling.
“Naturally, such a decision by Armen Danielyan could be expected,” his lawyer Varazdat Harutyunyan said.
Chalabyan was arrested on May 12 for allegedly trying to pay students of the Armenian National Agrarian University to participate in ongoing anti-government protests in Yerevan. He has denied the charges as politically motivated.
Chalabyan is a co-founder of Arar Foundation, a charity supporting the Armenian army as well as border villages in Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).
The Artsakh president, parliament speaker, MPs and religious leader have called for his release.
