LIVE: Yerevan court starts preliminary hearings in case against opposition activists

A court in Yerevan is starting preliminary hearings in the case involving political prisoners Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan.

The case has been assigned to judge Arman Hovhannisyan of the Avan District Criminal Court.

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 cede territories to Azerbaijan. If found guilty, they could face up to five years in prison.