ECtHR Verdict Published in Case of "Levon Ter-Petrosyan vs. Armenia"

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has published its verdict in the case of former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan vs. Armenia. Ruben Melikyan, a human rights defender and former Ombudsman of Artsakh, announced this on his Facebook page.

"As far as I understand, this is the first ECtHR verdict based on the application of a former head of state [if there is other information, please mention it in the comments].

One of the four claims was particularly notable—the issue of legally transporting the First President from Freedom Square on the morning of March 1 and allegedly not allowing him to leave his home (effectively 'house arrest'). The applicant argued that this constituted a violation of personal liberty and right to freedom of movement. The European Court did not agree with the applicant's arguments and declared the complaint regarding this issue to be manifestly ill-founded and inadmissible.

The other three claims had already been addressed in the ruling concerning Sagatelian. Without diverging from the expressed positions, the Court has acknowledged that there were (1) violations of the right to freedom of assembly related to the dispersal of the gathering at Freedom Square on March 1, and (2) violations of the right to an effective remedy concerning the inability to contest the legality of the dispersal. The allegation of discrimination regarding the dispersal of the gathering was left without examination," he wrote.