"ATMOSPHERE OF UNPUNISHABILITY REIGNS IN ARMENIA"
/02/26/ruben-sahakyan
06:18 pm | February 26, 2010
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Ruben Sahakyan, Chairman of the Armenian Chamber of Advocates, says
though bribery has relatively reduced, the state of justice is still
miserable in the country.
"Everything is done to scale down bribery but I would like the struggle
to be stopped. Everyone thinks that if the punishment is mild it means
the judge or investigator is bribed. Many judges are careerists,
consequently they return a tough verdict on the defendant," Ruben
Sahakyan told A1+.
Regarding Nikol Pashjinyan’s verdict, Mr. Sahakyan said, "It was a
disgraceful trial."
Asked whether there has been a precedent when a defendant was sent to
more years than the prosecutor demanded, Ruben Sahakyan said: "During
the Soviet epoch the prosecutor demanded to send my cousin to four
years’ imprisonment, while the judge returned a verdict of five years.
When asked why he made such a decision the judge said: "The prosecutor
gave me nothing of the money he had taken."
Advocates face difficult times today, says the chairman of the Chamber
of Advocates.
"Their state is worsening day by day. Advocates read a law and see
that their petition must be granted but in reality it is not. There
is an atmosphere of unpunishability in Armenia. I think that advocates
will go on strike one day."
Mr. Sahakyan also spoke about advocates’ shortcomings.
"If an advocate gets engaged in violations made by an investigator,
prosecutor or judge, he also becomes a law-breaker. If an advocate
keeps silent having at hand valuable proofs, he must be disbarred,"
he said promising to publicize the names of law breakers.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
