Disciplinary Proceedings Initiated Against Ruben Sahakyan, One of Robert Kocharian's Defenders

The Chamber of Advocates has initiated disciplinary proceedings against Ruben Sahakyan, one of Robert Kocharian's defenders. The spokesperson for the Chamber, Haik Hakobyan, informed "Haykakan Zhamanak" that issues regarding the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against lawyers Haik Aloumyan and Ruben Sahakyan were discussed in relation to media publications.

Accordingly, the president of the Chamber of Advocates decided not to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Haik Aloumyan. The Chamber concluded that Aloumyan's comments regarding the judge were based on the Prime Minister's statement. Since the remarks in the Prime Minister's statement were not deemed offensive by the judiciary, the repetition of those remarks by lawyer Haik Aloumyan, referencing the source, cannot be considered grounds for initiating disciplinary proceedings.

As for Ruben Sahakyan, disciplinary proceedings were initiated due to statements made about Judge Anna Danibekyan during a press conference after the previous session. "Disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against Ruben Sahakyan regarding expressions allegedly exceeding restraint and decency towards Judge Anna Danibekyan, aiming to verify behavior that undermines the trust or respect for the lawyer or advocacy," said the spokesperson.

During the press conference, Ruben Sahakyan specifically stated: "She (referring to Anna Danibekyan) does not master her profession. She didn’t understand what I was talking about during the previous session and said, 'keep it short'... If you don’t understand, why should I keep it short? Go home and adjudicate the cats. Listen to your cats’ cases, not people’s... Well, she has many cats."

The Chamber of Advocates emphasized that the principles outlined in the "Fundamental Principles on the Lawyer’s Profession in Europe" charter require avoiding offensive criticism of colleagues, individual judges, and the procedures and decisions of the court.

In an interview with the media, Ruben Sahakyan stated that he is not aware of the initiation of proceedings and is not interested in it. "I am not refusing; I said those words and will repeat them again." When asked if he thought his words might be somewhat offensive, Ruben Sahakyan responded, "Isn't it offensive that she doesn’t allow me to speak when I am presenting my statement, trying to read my text, and she tells me to speak on topic? I tell her to listen so that you know whether I am on topic or not, yet she interrupted me without listening and didn’t hear me at all."

According to Ruben Sahakyan, if the judge rejects their motion without justification, then she cannot be a judge. "In her decision, Judge Anna Danibekyan copied my submitted text but did not answer any questions. I had written in two different places in the text that the court is obliged to justify its decision, but there is no justification."]

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