Wednesday,
Prosecutors To Appeal Against Kocharian Trial Suspension
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia -- Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian (C) at the opening session of
former President Robert Kocharian's trial in Yerevan, May 13, 2019.
Armenian prosecutors have decided to appeal against a judge’s controversial
decision to suspend former President Robert Kocharian’s trial and request an
important clarification from the Constitutional Court.
In his decision publicized on Tuesday, the district court judge presiding over
the trial, Davit Grigorian, cited a “suspicion of discrepancy” between the
Armenian constitution and coup charges brought against Kocharian. He also
suggested that the constitution gives the ex-president immunity from
prosecution in connection with the 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan.
The decision was condemned by lawyers representing relatives of protesters
killed in the March 2008 clashes with security forces. One of them said the
Constitutional Court must not take up the case because he is legally unable to
appeal against the judge’s decision.
The Office of the Prosecutor-General clarified later on Tuesday, however, that
Armenia’s Code of Procedural Justice allows it to file such an appeal. A
spokesman for the office said it will therefore ask the Court of Appeals to
annul the trial’s suspension.
One of Kocharian’s lawyers, Aram Orbelian, insisted on Wednesday that while the
prosecutors can challenge the judge’s decision, the Court of Appeals is not in
a position to overturn it.
“Under the existing legislation, the Court of Appeals has no right to look into
the justifications for the [judge’s] appeal to the Constitutional Court,”
Orbelian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
He predicted that the Court of Appeals will therefore rebuff the prosecutors.
“It cannot say in place of the Constitutional Court whether a particular law
conforms to the constitution,” he said.
Armenian law gives the Constitutional has one month to decide whether to hold
hearings and rule on the appeal.
Orbelian confirmed reports that the court chairman, Hrayr Tovmasian, is his
godfather. He said this fact does not represent a conflict of interest.
“I am simply one of the lawyers in this case,” added Orbelian. “I am not the
defendant or prosecutor. The case does not apply to me.”
The prosecutors are also planning to appeal against Judge Grigorian’s separate
decision on Saturday to release Kocharian from custody pending the outcome of
the trial.
The decision angered many political allies and supporters of Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian, who hold Kocharian responsible for the 2008 bloodshed. At
Pashinian’s urging, they blocked the entrances to court buildings across the
country on Monday.The premier also called for a mandatory “vetting” of all
judges and said many of them should quit even before the start of such a
process.
Council Of Europe Chief Discusses Judicial Reform With Pashinian
France -- Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland (R) and
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian at a joint news conference in
Strasbourg, April 11, 2019.
Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland and Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian discussed recent days’ developments in Armenia in a phone call on
Wednesday.
“They agreed that the reform process, including the fight against corruption
and the reform of the judiciary, should proceed in conformity with the
Constitution, the relevant international standards and Armenia's obligations as
a member state of the Council of Europe,” the Strasbourg-based human rights
organization said in a statement.
“Secretary General Jagland confirmed the organization’s support to Armenia’s
reform agenda,” it said. “A delegation of Council of Europe experts will travel
to Yerevan in the next days to offer advice and assistance with the necessary
reforms.”
Pashinian’s press office released an identical readout of the conversation.
The two men spoke by phone one day after two representatives of the Council of
Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) expressed concern at Pashinian’s weekend
calls for his supporters to block the entrances to all court buildings in
Armenia. They at the same time welcomed Pashinian’s declared efforts to reform
the Armenian judiciary.
“Political stakeholders must refrain from actions and statements that could be
perceived as exerting pressure on the judiciary,” read a joint statement
released by Yuliya Lovochkina and Andrej Sircelj, the PACE co-rapporteurs
monitoring Armenia’s compliance with its membership obligations.
ARMENIA -- Supporters of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian are watched by police
as they blockade the entrance to a court building in Yerevan, May 20, 2019
Lovochkina and Sircelj noted that Pashinian urged the court blockade following
a Yerevan court’s controversial decision to order former President Robert
Kocharian released from prison pending the outcome of his trial on coup charges
denied by him.
“Without prejudice to the merits of this decision, we wish to emphasise that
the independence of the judiciary is a pre-requisite for the rule of law, and
that the rule of law is therefore best served by the absence of any
interference from political actors,” they said. “There are clear legal
procedures, such as appeals to a higher court, to challenge a court decision
that seems questionable.”
The PACE co-rapporteurs at the same time acknowledged “the still low level of
public trust in the judiciary” in Armenia. “Judicial reforms remain a priority
and we welcome Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian's stated desire for far-reaching
reform of the judicial system, particularly with regard to the fight against
corruption, as well as his wish to associate the Council of Europe with it,”
they added.
The court blockade, condemned by the Armenian opposition as illegal, began on
Monday morning. It ended a several hours later, shortly after Pashinian held an
emergency meeting with senior state officials to announce a “surgical
intervention” in the judicial system.
He said Armenian courts remains closely linked to the country’s “corrupt”
former leaders. The premier announced plans for a mandatory “vetting” of all
judges and said many of them should quit even before the start of such a
process.
Council Of Europe Chief Discusses Judicial Reform With Pashinian
France -- Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland (R) and
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian at a joint news conference in
Strasbourg, April 11, 2019.
Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland and Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian discussed recent days’ developments in Armenia in a phone call on
Wednesday.
“They agreed that the reform process, including the fight against corruption
and the reform of the judiciary, should proceed in conformity with the
Constitution, the relevant international standards and Armenia's obligations as
a member state of the Council of Europe,” the Strasbourg-based human rights
organization said in a statement.
“Secretary General Jagland confirmed the organization’s support to Armenia’s
reform agenda,” it said. “A delegation of Council of Europe experts will travel
to Yerevan in the next days to offer advice and assistance with the necessary
reforms.”
Pashinian’s press office released an identical readout of the conversation.
The two men spoke by phone one day after two representatives of the Council of
Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) expressed concern at Pashinian’s weekend
calls for his supporters to block the entrances to all court buildings in
Armenia. They at the same time welcomed Pashinian’s declared efforts to reform
the Armenian judiciary.
“Political stakeholders must refrain from actions and statements that could be
perceived as exerting pressure on the judiciary,” read a joint statement
released by Yuliya Lovochkina and Andrej Sircelj, the PACE co-rapporteurs
monitoring Armenia’s compliance with its membership obligations.
ARMENIA -- Supporters of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian are watched by police
as they blockade the entrance to a court building in Yerevan, May 20, 2019
Lovochkina and Sircelj noted that Pashinian urged the court blockade following
a Yerevan court’s controversial decision to order former President Robert
Kocharian released from prison pending the outcome of his trial on coup charges
denied by him.
“Without prejudice to the merits of this decision, we wish to emphasise that
the independence of the judiciary is a pre-requisite for the rule of law, and
that the rule of law is therefore best served by the absence of any
interference from political actors,” they said. “There are clear legal
procedures, such as appeals to a higher court, to challenge a court decision
that seems questionable.”
The PACE co-rapporteurs at the same time acknowledged “the still low level of
public trust in the judiciary” in Armenia. “Judicial reforms remain a priority
and we welcome Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian's stated desire for far-reaching
reform of the judicial system, particularly with regard to the fight against
corruption, as well as his wish to associate the Council of Europe with it,”
they added.
The court blockade, condemned by the Armenian opposition as illegal, began on
Monday morning. It ended a several hours later, shortly after Pashinian held an
emergency meeting with senior state officials to announce a “surgical
intervention” in the judicial system.
He said Armenian courts remains closely linked to the country’s “corrupt”
former leaders. The premier announced plans for a mandatory “vetting” of all
judges and said many of them should quit even before the start of such a
process.
Press Review
“Haykakan Zhamanak” says that former President Robert Kocharian has been the
sole beneficiary of recent days’ dramatic developments triggered by his release
from detention. The pro-government paper says Armenia and Karabakh “have paid
the price” for his release. “The most terrible thing has happened: the
administration of justice has turned into an Armenians-Karabakhis discourse and
the two sides, so to speak, have gone over the top in some cases,” it says.
“Robert Kocharian personally provoked that, and he did so skillfully.” This is
why, it says, supporters of Kocharian waved Karabakh flags outside the Yerevan
court that ordered his release.
“Zhamanak” reports that the two Armenia rapporteurs of the Council of Europe’s
Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) issued a statement on Tuesday regarding Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian’s actions targeting the Armenian judiciary. “They
welcomed Pashinian’s will and readiness to carry out judicial reforms,
including with the Council of Europe’s assistance,” writes the paper. “But most
of the statement was devoted to criticism of his calls for blockading the court
buildings. In other words, the PACE co-rapporteurs focused their attention on
an issue which served as a political background for ongoing realities, rather
than their essence.” That essence, according to the paper, is “the immunity of
the Armenian velvet revolution and political guarantees of the prospect of a
democratic Armenia.” “The PACE co-rapporteurs have thus turned a blind eye to
this extremely important political circumstance,” it says.
“Zhoghovurd” hits out at Vazgen Manukian, a veteran politician heading
Armenia’s Public Council. Pashinian reappointed Manukian as chairman of the
advisory state body recently. “Many criticized Nikol Pashinian [for doing
that,] and with his actions in recent days Vazgen Manukian is consistently
proving that they were right to criticize the prime minister for being so kind
towards Manukian,” writes the paper. “At yesterday’s emergency meeting of the
Public Council he rushed to criticize Nikol Pashinian’s statements made the
previous day. And most importantly, he found dangerous and damaging the
authorities’ intention to set up an ad hoc parliamentary commission that will
investigate the April 2016 war [in Karabakh.]”
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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