YEREVAN. – Gegharkunik District Court of First Instance chief judge Aghvan Petrosyan was arrested on Thursday.

His attorney, Armen Melkonyan, told Armenian News-NEWS.am that his client was immediately taken to court from a hospital in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia, and a decision was reached on his arrest.

In Melkonyan’s words, however, the court did not enable him to study the case materials and carry out the necessary defense, and gave him solely 40 minutes to prepare his defense arguments.

He noted that his client has serious illnesses, “and despite all this, they urgently discharged him from hospital and arrested him.”

The attorney added that Judge Petrosyan is charged with taking a large bribe, but he pleads not guilty to the charge brought against him.