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Judge Tigran Voskanyan of Yerevan’s Criminal Code on Monday recused himself from the case involving opposition activists Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan.

Immediately after the start of preliminary hearings at the Ajapnyak district court, the judge said he could not deal with the case because of his previous involvement in another case against Samsonyan.

“Therefore, to ensure the impartiality of the presiding judge and rule out any reasonable doubt, I’ve decided to recuse myself from the criminal case,” the judge announced.

Vazgen Saghatelyan and Narek Samsonyan, co-hosts of the Imnemnimi podcast, were given two-month pretrial detention on 22 March on charges of hooliganism after using slur language to criticize Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his government for their plans to make territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. If found guilty, they could face up to five years in prison.