ARMEN HARUTYUNYAN: THE RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL IS NOT DEFENDED
Lusine Vasilyan

"Radiolur"
25.12.2009 17:17

The right to a fair trial is not defended and the property right is
not guaranteed, Armenian Human Rights Defender Armen Harutyunyan
said, when presenting the "Public Ad Hoc Report on the Right to a
Fair Trial in the Republic of Armenia."

The 60-page report consists of the monitoring results of court
sittings, carried out by representatives of the Ombudsman’s office
over several years.

The report pays great attention to the court cases of disputes over
right to property of citizens since 2001. It also closely examined
cases of prisoners who were detained as a result of March 1-2, 2008
post election clashes.

"It has been several years now that I have been continuously raising
the issue that the court cases concerning alienated property are
quite disputable, and that they have not provided the citizens’
right to a fair trial," Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan said.

According to the Human Rights Defender, the March 1 trials have also
given rise to serious concerns.

This report is the fourth submitted by the Ombudsman this year. The
Armenian Ombudsman hopes, all the submitted reports will serve as
a helpful guideline and be a guide for state bodies and the civil
society of Armenia.

Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan does not understand the stir caused by
the report of the co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee of the
Council of Europe Georges Colombier and John Prescott.

"Prescott and Colombier’s assessments 90% overlap with the assessment
we gave earlier. But our papers create the impression that something
new has been invented. I cannot understand this stir," he said.