YEREVAN, MARCH 4, NOYAN TAPAN. According to the estimation of the defendants on the so-called "case of the seven," the last amendments to the legislation contradict other legislative provisions, therefore they can be used only after parliament's correcting those contradictions. Defendant, former Foreign Minister Alexander Arzumanian, in particular, declared this at the March 4 court sitting. According to him, by the amendments to the RA Code of Criminal Procedure, the provision of sending away defendants from the court hall for treating the court with disregard, hindering court sittings' normal process or not executing court's orders contradicts the same Code's article, which stipulates that sides' participation in the court sittings is compulsory. A. Arzumanian's lawyer Liparit Simonian on the basis of the newly appeared circumstanace introduced a regular petition of self-rejection to judge Mnatskan Martirosian. In particular, lawyer's petition was based on judge Mnatsakan Martirosian's 2009 February 27 decision, by which on the basis of the amendments to the RA Code of Criminal Procedure, before the amendments come in force, the case was passed from Yerevan Criminal Court to Yerevan Kentron and Nork-Marash communities' court. The defence side considers that before starting the case examination the court chairman should have endorsed the case to the judge and the latter should have made a decision on accepting the case for examination. L. Simonian consisers that the judge is interested in the outcome of the case: he considered the case his ownership appointing himself a presiding judge on the case and deciding the day of the next court sitting. Melania Arustamian, the lawyer of defendant, NA deputy Hakob Hakobian, added that in consideration of the above mentioned, since making the decision up to the present the defendants on the case are in illegal imprisonment. The defendants joined the petition. The prosecutor side considered the petition groundless. The court went the consultation room to make a decision on the petition.

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