On Tuesday (March 9) the Criminal Court of Appeal cut by half the seven-year sentence handed down in January for radical oppositional political figure Nikol Pashinyan, editor-in-chief of 'Haykakan Jamanak' (Armenian Times) daily.

On January 19, the court found Pashinyan, 34, guilty of “organizing mass disorder” during March 1-2, 2008 post-election clashes. He was originally also charged with “violence against a police officer” but that charge was dropped for lack of evidence.

His attorneys had argued that Pashinyan should be set free, due to a lack of evidence on the existing charge also.

Pashinyan attorneys Lusine Sahakyan and Yervand Varosyan, as well as the prosecution appealed to the initial conviction. The defenders demanded that the court should acquit their client, while the prosecution appealed the decision to drop the first charge.

On Tuesday, the court refused both the attorneys’ and the prosecution’s appeals, choosing to reduce the existing charge but not to set Pashinyan free. If his new sentence is served to term, Pashinyan would be freed just weeks before Armenia’s next presidential election.