RUSSIAN AND ARMENIAN VERSION ATTACHED
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PRESS RELEASE
November 02, 2009
Yerkir Union condemns the decision of the Court of Appeals of Georgia
to uphold the sentence of Javakheti political activist Chakhalyan
On October 30, 2009 the Court of Appeals of Georgia upheld the ruling of the
Court of First Instance in respect to Vahagn Chakhalyan, his father and
younger brother, according to which the Javakheti political activist had
been sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment, his father and brother – to five
and two years’ suspended imprisonment respectively, with consequent
substitution of the sentence by a fine of 5000 ($ 3000) and 2000 ($ 1200)
Georgian laris.
The last two hearings of the case at the Court of Appeals were held without
the participation of Vahagn Chakhalyan, who boycotted proceedings in protest
against judicial violations at the Court of Appeals.
The legal proceedings against Chakhalyan in the Court of Appeals of Georgia
were held in accordance with the same "scenario" as in the Court of First
Instance. The Javakheti political activist was denied the opportunity to be
defended by a lawyer he had chosen; the translation of the court hearings
into Armenian was incomplete and poor, and thus Vahagn Chakhalyan and his
Armenian attorney were deprived of the right to fully participate in the
proceedings; the Court refused to question the witnesses who had not been
questioned by the Court of First Instance, and illegally rejected a number
of other motions of the defense side.
The Georgian Justice chose to ignore the reasonable arguments of the defense
side asserting that the weapons, allegedly found on July 21, 2008 in the
house and in the office of Vahagn Chakhalyan, served only as a pretext for
the arrest of the Javakheti political activist, his father and brother, and
were planted by the Georgian special troops and police forces.
The Georgian Justice preferred not to notice that the motives that lay
behind the arrest and imprisonment of Vahagn Chakhalyan were purely
political and had nothing to do with the charges brought against him. The
charges of alleged "organization and active participation in mass actions
violating public order" and "hooliganism" in 2005-06, were brought against
him in December 2008, four months after his arrest and one month after the
start of the hearings.
The Georgian justice paid no attention to the fact that due to political
reasons the length of detention of Vahagn Chakahlyan was disproportionate to
the initial offence he has been found guilty of. The new charges on the
facts of 2005-06 were filed against the Javakheti activist, in order to
convict him for a longer term, and to keep him in prison as long as
possible, because by the charge of illegal possession of weapons he was
convicted only to one year imprisonment.
Of course, the Georgian Justice, chose not to "notice" the fact that the
charges of "organizing and active participation in mass actions violating
public order" and "hooliganism" … against the government representative"
are political by their "nature", as they are based on the political activity
of Vahagn Chakhalyan as a defender of the Javakheti Armenians’ interests in
2005-06, when, through demonstrations and protest actions the Armenian
population raised legitimate claims to protect their linguistic,
educational, social, cultural and religious rights, and protested against
rigged elections of local self-government bodies on October 9, 2006.
The Georgian Justice ignored the facts of systematic discrimination against
Javakheti political activist in prison, particularly, brutal beating that
followed the protest action in his defense by the Coordination Council of
the Armenian Organizations of France in front of the Georgian Embassy in
Paris on April 14, 2009, and the refusal to allow a meeting with his
Armenian lawyer on August 17, 2009.
The Georgian Justice also failed to observe that these disgraceful series of
violations of basic human rights of the Javakheti activist caused a wide
resonance in Armenia and in the Diaspora. A number of Armenian
non-governmental organizations, international human rights organizations,
and European politicians have made statements and have taken steps in
Chakhalyan’s defense.
Taking into account the above-mentioned facts, the "Yerkir" Union considers
the decision of the Court of Appeals of Georgia as a parody of justice, by
which the Georgian Court once again demonstrated that it is only a
complaisant appendage of the Georgian authorities, ready to violate the
fundamental rights to a fair trial for "legalization" of their political
will.
By reaffirming the shameful verdict of the Court of First Instance on the
Javakheti Armenian activist, the Georgian authorities "confirmed" their
determination to speak with the Javakheti Armenians in the language of
police repressions that will further strengthen the atmosphere of fear and
alienation in the Armenian-populated regions of Georgia.
"Yerkir" Union calls upon the organizations in Armenia and in the Diaspora
to continue and intensify the pressure on the Georgian authorities aimed at
releasing Vahagn Chakhalyan from prison.
"Yerkir" Union also calls on international structures and human rights
organizations to take effective steps to prevent the crisis in the
Armenian-populated areas of Georgia from deepening, prompting the Georgian
authorities to stop repressions, to release the Javakheti political activist
and to find acceptable solutions to the problems the Armenian minority is
concerned about.
The time has come when the international community must send a clear and
strict message to the Georgian authorities, stating that the issues of the
Armenian population of Georgia CANNOT BE addressed from the perspective of
force, repression and deprivation of human and minority rights. Only through
tangible recognition, protection and enjoyment of fundamental human rights
and freedoms, as well as the actual planting of democratic procedures is it
possible to create stable guarantees for the development of the country and
establishment of peace in the region.
Union Yerkir
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
