Lawyer: Former Ararat governor’s illegal decision declared invalid

Panorama, Armenia

A court in Yerevan has declared invalid a decision of former Governor of Armenia’s Ararat Province Garik Sargsyan to appoint an acting head of the Norashen community in 2019, lawyer Amram Makinyan said on Friday.

“Finally, we have reached the point where the illegal decision of former Ararat Governor Garik Sargsyan, according to which an acting head of the Norashen community was appointed back in 2019, has been invalidated,” he wrote on Facebook, promising to reveal the “grave consequences” of the illegal appointment soon.

Earlier, Norashen community head Norayr Grigoryan, whose term was terminated early, filed a lawsuit against the former governor of Ararat.

Garik Sargsyan decided dismiss him while he was on vacation, failing to notify Norayr Grigoryan of the decision.

By the order of the then governor, Artak Harutyunyan was appointed acting head of Norashen before fresh elections would be held. Whereas, Norashen residents opposed the decision to remove Norayr Grigoryan from office.

Residents of Norashen also stated that Grigoryan was proposed to join Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party, but he refused.