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The jailed head of Armenia’s Goris community, Arush Arushanyan, on Friday was greeted with applause as he entered the courtroom at the Goris residence of the Court of General Jurisdiction, accompanied by court bailiffs.

Arushanyan waved at those present and hugged his lawyers.

Arush Arushanyan’s bloc defeated the ruling Civil Contract party by a wide margin in the 17 October local elections, but he remains in custody.

His lawyer Erik Aleksanyan told reporters earlier on Friday that the issue of the legality of restricting visits and phone calls for Arushanyan had been discussed at the previous court hearing.

"We filed a motion for the full or at least partial removal of these restrictions. We have expressed our position, and at the beginning of today’s hearing the prosecutor is going to present his arguments," Aleksanyan said.

Afterwards, they will move on to the main trial stage, the indictment will be read out, and the order of examining the evidence will be set.

The defense lawyers intend to file a motion to the court to release Arushanyan on bail or surety, Aleksanyan said.

Arush Arushanyan has been placed under arrest since 16 July after being charged with electoral offence.