Vahagn Melikyan Does Not Deny Phone Conversation with Court President, but SCC Rejects Criminal Case Initiation

The Special Investigation Service has rejected the initiation of a criminal case regarding a directive from the President of the Yerevan City Court, Arthur Mkrtchyan, to judge Vahagn Melikyan about the detention of Aram Sakrsyan in the Gagik Soghomonyan case. This was reported by the attorney of the previously detained Aram Sakrsyan, Benik Galstyan, on his Facebook page.

“However, it turns out that during the preparatory phase of the materials, both Arthur Mkrtchyan, a lover of the ‘Triumph’ cafe, and Vahagn Melikyan, fond of phone calls regarding 'organizational issues' from the deliberation room, gave explanations. Thus, Judge Vahagn Melikyan, in his explanation, admitted that he was in the deliberation room from 21:35 on February 20, 2021, until 02:30 on February 21, 2021, for about 4 hours, and did not exclude the possibility of having had a phone conversation with the President of the Yerevan City Court, Arthur Mkrtchyan, concerning organizational matters during that time. Arthur Mkrtchyan also did not rule out that he may have had a phone conversation with Vahagn Melikyan during those hours related to organizational matters.

This means that the judge, who was in the deliberation room for the detention of a person frequently referenced by the director of the NSS, had a phone conversation with the court president.

The question arises: what organizational issues were discussed? Did the judge run out of paper, or was there no ink in the printer to print the illegal detention ruling regarding Aram Sakrsyan?

Moreover, the judges have not denied the fact of the phone conversation, as according to my information, their communication was not secure, meaning they spoke over regular telephone lines. In light of this and regarding Arthur Mkrtchyan, who gives directives to judges in the deliberation room concerning 'organizational issues,' I will hold a press conference in the coming days, during which I will present other facts as well as our future actions in this case. The image includes a small portion of the discussed decision.