A Yerevan judge today extended the pre-trial detention of Garo Yegnukian, a member of the opposition Founding Parliament who has already spent two months in detention on charges of aiding and abetting in the July seizure of a Yerevan police station and the taking of hostages, by another two months.A Yerevan judge today extended the pre-trial detention of Garo Yegnukian, a member of the opposition Founding Parliament who has already spent two months in detention on charges of aiding and abetting in the July seizure of a Yerevan police station and the taking of hostages, by another two months.Yegnukian’s lawyer, Tigran Hayrapetyan, told Hetq that the state investigator in the case told the court on several occasions that no incriminating evidence against Yegnukian had been presented due to pre-investigation “secrecy”.Hayrapetyan described the statement as ludicrous.It turns out that during the two months of Yegnukian’s detention no such investigation has even been carried out.Hayrapetyan, a father of five, told his lawyer that he still hopes that one day common sense would win out and that a fair trial would be possible in Armenia.Yegnukian said that he was being persecuted for his political beliefs and was ready to face the challenge.

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