David Minasyan doesn’t suffer from mental illness; he has other health issues, but he is a bright, intelligent young man, his lawyer, Varduhi Elbakyan, told reporters in the courthouse courtyard.
She said we’re dealing with a moderately serious crime.
“Have you ever seen an 18-year-old detained under a charge that carries a sentence of 2-5 years in prison?” she added.
As a reminder, an incident occurred on Sunday during a church service at St. Anne’s Church, which Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also attended. As Pashinyan’s bodyguards cleared the way for him, a young man attempted to strike the prime minister. Three people were implicated in the incident: brothers David and Mikael Minasyan and public figure Gevorg Gevorgyan. David Minasyan is accused of hooliganism and interfering with the lawful official or political activities of an official.
The other participants in the scandalous incident, David Minasyan’s brother Mikael Minasyan and Gevorg Gevorgyan, have been released. Gevorgyan was given bail of 5 million drams and a visitation ban, while Mikael Minasyan was only banned from attending. He is accused of aiding and abetting these actions.
It should be added that Gevorg Gevorgyan is accused of organizing the incident. However, Gevorgyan denies that the incident was organized and states that he does not accept the charges.