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Lawyers encountered some obstacles during the ongoing events at Khorenatsi Str., when people were subjected to mass detention by the police, lawyers of the Chamber of Advocates of Armenia, Arsen Mkrtchyan and Liana Balyan told reporters during a press conference.

“The police also hindered the lawyers to defend their clients by not providing them information about the detained persons,” Balyan noted.

The lawyers pointed out that the norms of criminal procedure have also been violated when people were kept in police departments for more than 3 hours without any legal bases.

Arsen Mkrtchyan presented the case of his client, who was detained for just “sitting on the ground” after the clashes between the police and demonstrators.

“Tigran Mayilyan appeared in the centre of the events by indiscretion, yet he wasn’t even involved in them,” Mkrtchyan said noting that his client is considered a suspect within the framework of a criminal case by the Investigative Committee on mass disorders.

Liana Balyan, as a member of the Advocates Rights Protection Commission, is going to find out how many persons were detained, how many of them had lawyers and when were they released. “We need this data. It’s the lawyers’ duty to legally and properly protect people’s rights, including [filing an appeal] to the ECHR”.