IT IS NOT EXCLUDED THAT HRANT BAGRATIAN WILL APPLY TO EUROPEAN COURT
OF HUMAN RIGHTS

YEREVAN, JULY 25, NOYAN TAPAN. Lawyer Artur Grigorian representing the
interests of former RA Prime Minister Hrant Bagratian is going to
appeal against the July 10 judgement of Yerevan Civil Court at the RA
Civil Appeal Court. He said this at the July 24 meeting with
journalists classing the case examined against the former RA Prime
Minister by the lawsuit of the current Prime Minister as to some extent
political persecution.

Current RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian when being the CBA Chairman
applied to the court with a lawsuit against former Prime Minister Hrant
Bagratian demanding refuting information discrediting his honor,
dignity, and business authority. The court had partially sustained the
lawsuit. According to the court, the expression "Tigran Sargsian had
been chasing Ardshinbank long ago," is not subject to refutation, as it
is an opinion, and on the rest the court judgement obliges to publish a
refutation in the Aravot newspaper in a 10-day term by apologizing to
Tigran Sargsian and to readers. By the way, apologizing is not
envisaged by the Code of Civil Procedure, the court obviously surpassed
its powers. A. Grigorian considers that the court has deprived them of
the possibility to introduce proof by not sustaining their petition
demanding a number of documents containing bank secret: in particular,
these are all CBA Board decisions on the process of Ardshinbank
bankruptcy, on all quarter accounts of Agrobank (when bank’s owner was
Hakob Hakobian), on the decisions of Agrobank Board of Directors in the
same period, on the case of ArmSavingsBank privatization."

Hrant Bagratian in his article under the title Decisions Should Be
Reconsidered, Former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratian Is Sure in the
February 2 issue of the Aravot newspaper expressed his position on
processes of stopping the activity of a number of banks formerly
functioning in RA. He said that Ardshinbank, in essence, was a normally
acting bank, and if there had not been the artificial criminal
prosecutions, it is not excluded that the bank would be financially
rehabilitated and would work normally. On the part of Agrobank
Bagratian mentioned that bank’s shares were deliberately given to a
person not connected with bank’s activity, which contributed to the
process of bank’s artificial bankruptcy. ArmSavingsBank’s privatization
also, according to the former Prime Minister, pursued concrete
purposes, finally the assets of all these banks were given to
Ardshininvesbank. H. Bagratian concluded that all that was done
deliberately and the Central Bank of Armenia and its Chairman Tigran
Sargsian were responsible for all that, as the law On Banking Activity
gives CBA a possibility to bankrupt any bank.

A. Grigorian said that if the Appeal Court’s judgement does not satisfy
them, the side, after the RA Cassation Court’s decision, first of all
in a 6-month term will introduce a preliminary letter and then a
complete package of complaints to the European Court of Human Rights.
"I welcome current Prime Minister’s policy on fighting corruption, but
the continuation of this case, in all appearances, will result in T.
Sargsian’s directly or indirectly delivering a blow to the RA rating
when the European Court demands explanations from the RA government
concerning the complaint," the lawyer said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress