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THE CASE OF ASHOT MANUKYAN:
Appeal Denied

Armenian political prisoner Ashot Manukyan's motion to overturn an illegal conviction and sentence was denied by the Armenian appellate court today.

Mr. Manukyan was convicted on police-only testimony for organizing an 'illegal' demonstration against a dictatorial regime which continues to abuse and pillage its citizens for its own wealth accumulation.

He will have missed the birth of two grandchildren and will be nearly 70 years old when released.
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Time-line:

* December 12: Ashot Manukyan sentenced to 5 years in prison
* December 5: Today they had the defense summations. According to an American who attended, Mr. Manukyan was quite eloquent in his closing statement.
* November 27: Prosecution recommends a 6 year sentence.
* November 20: Political Prisoners on hunger strike. Trial postponed.
* November 13: Trial delayed until November 20th
* November 7: Trial delayed until November 13th
* November 3: Trial delayed until November 7th.
* October 29: Defense attorney calls in sick, trial postponed until 11/3.
* October 23: Trial postponed until October 29th.
* October 15: The defendant is also charged with organizing an unauthorized illegal public demonstration. The court heard testimony from one witness, an individual who had previously pled guilty to a crime relating to the March 1 incident. He had received a suspended sentence for his own conviction. In a series of investigation statements (before trial) the witness stated that he had received approximately $60 from the defendant and that the witness had used the money to bus people into Yerevan for the unauthorized demonstrations at the direction of the defendant. At the trial the witness stated that he had received money from the defendant as part of LTP's campaign, but that the defendant never directed him to use the money for the demonstrations. Unfortunately, the judges in Armenia often base guilty verdicts on pre-trial investigation statements even where the witness comes into court and recants on his prior statement.
* October 6: Trial postponed due to lack of prosecution witnesses.
* September 17: Two witnesses testified both police officers. One testified as the "victim" and the other as a "witness". Per a US official who attended the trial: "The bad news is that this case clearly demonstrates, even assuming that the defendant is completely guilty, that the authorities are out to get him".
* September 9: The defense attorney made a motion to disqualify the two prosecutors working on the case. That motion was denied by the judge. The case is moved to the higher felony and adjourned to Sept. 17 to hear from the victim / police officer.
* July 29: The prosecutor seeks an adjournment to upgrade the charges to more serious felonies, punishable by 5 to 10 years imprisonment. At the prosecutor's request the court adjourned the case for four weeks.
* July 15: After 4 months in 'pre-detention', a trial date is finally scheduled. The court date is later canceled at the last minute due to lack of witnesses.
* March 1: Ashot Manukyan is beaten and arrested at dawn after 11 days of peaceful protest of a corrupt election. He is taken to Nubereshen detention center and not allowed to see his family for over a month until his wounds heal.