Teghut LLC Threatens Employees with Dismissal

The Teghut LLC copper-molybdenum mining company is demanding that its employees withdraw their claims regarding violations of property rights from the European Court of Human Rights. "Otherwise, the company's leaders threaten to dismiss my clients from their jobs," said a landowner who requested to remain anonymous.

Four families from Shnogh and Teghut have asked lawyer Karen Tumanyan, who is working on the European court case, to withdraw their applications. It is worth noting that at the beginning of the year, the lawyer had won 8 cases against the Republic of Armenia in the European court.

"The company’s leaders have recently been holding individual meetings with employees and are pressuring them. The villagers come to us and say that Teghut LLC is removing them from their jobs," Karen Tumanyan stated. The lawyer refrained from releasing names due to lack of consent from the plaintiffs, but mentioned that some want to withdraw their claims because a family member works for the company and they are being pressured with threats of dismissal.

Tumanyan labeled the pressure exerted on the landowners as blatantly illegal. He explained to the villagers asking to withdraw their claims that their cases are ongoing and they cannot be withdrawn midway through the process. He also warned the company's leaders that he would submit an additional case to the European court for dismissing landowners from their jobs.

Information about threats to Teghut LLC plaintiffs was reported to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a press conference in Vanadzor on September 17. "You know, I don’t have that much detailed information, but I can say that I have had contacts regarding the Teghut mine with the chairman of VTB Bank, Mr. Kostin. He has left a very serious impression. And essentially, all the agreements that we have reached verbally have been implemented. I am also convinced that after hearing the alarms raised on this issue, VTB Bank will make a responsible decision and will study the situation. If this matter also reaches us, we will look into it and try to help," was Pashinyan's response.

It is important to note that the 8 cases won in the ECHR have provided grounds for 58 more families from Shnogh and Teghut to file similar claims defending their property and property rights. Based on these cases, the lawyer has approached domestic courts for the reopening of new cases. These cases have been submitted to courts of general jurisdiction, the appellate court, and the Supreme Court. The appellate court has accepted all cases for consideration.

"Then some time passed, the situation changed, presumably negatively, and I am receiving decisions from the court stating that the arguments presented by the European court are not new circumstances. I leave the conclusions to the readers," Karen Tumanyan said.

According to him, the European court established a new standard with its ruling in the 8 cases, namely that when adopting laws, the state should consider the fact that the applicants have lost their main source of income. They did not address whether the compensation provided would cover the actual losses related to the deprivation of the means necessary for the applicants' sustenance.

The court had deemed it acceptable to file against the Republic of Armenia, ruling that it would compel the state to pay the amounts established to the applicants for material and non-material damages.

Karen Tumanyan mentioned that there is a procedure in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe regarding cases against Armenia. "It is true that the government has compensated the applicants’ damages, but the European court’s decision also implies changes in the laws. We are now at a stage where laws need to be changed for the remaining cases to be considered as well. The government is in no rush to implement the legislative changes indicated by the European court," the lawyer said.

Tumanyan believes the Armenian government should primarily investigate the criminal case and first clarify whether the license granted to Teghut LLC was lawful. It should also be determined for whose fault the state budget paid $100,000 to the villagers. As of now, the government has not raised any demands against Teghut LLC regarding this matter.

Tumanyan remains optimistic: "If they do not fulfill the legislative requirements, we will send the landowners’ cases back to the European court. I expect that the violated rights of individuals should be restored," he said.