An Armenian court sentenced a man to three years in prison on Monday after convicting him involvement in an armed revolt allegedly plotted by Zhirayr Sefilian, a radical opposition figure.
The court ignored Artur Movsisian’s protestations of innocence voiced before and during his four-month trial.
Movsisian was detained in Moscow on an Armenian arrest warrant in November 2016 and handed over to law-enforcement authorities in Yerevan six months later. The authorities claim that he was affiliated with Sefilian’s alleged militant group and kept some of its weapons and ammunition in his home.
In his concluding remarks made shortly before the announcement of the verdict, Movsisian again denied the accusations and said he does not even know Sefilian personally. He cited a “complete absence of evidence” to the contrary presented by the prosecution. His lawyer, Arayik Papikian, said afterwards that he will appeal against the ruling.
Papikian confirmed that police found two assault rifles in the basement of the defendant’s apartment. But he said Movsisian had allowed another man, Galust Grigorian, to put them there only because he had been told by the latter that they are construction tools.
Grigorian is one of six persons who are standing a separate trial with Sefilian which began in May. They were arrested in June 2016 on charges of forming an armed group to seize government buildings and military facilities. Both Sefilian and his Founding Parliament opposition group have denied the charges as politically motivated.
Sefilian’s arrest came less than one month before three dozen gunmen mostly affiliated with Founding Parliament seized a police station in Yerevan. The gunmen demanded that President Serzh Sarkisian free their leader and step down. They surrendered to law-enforcement authorities following a two-week standoff which left three police officers dead.
Papikian said the guilty verdict against his client “predetermined the outcome” of Sefilian’s trial. He predicted that the radical oppositionist will get a much longer prison sentence.
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