Prime Minister Says, 'I Disregard Judicial Authority Documents in Our Country'; Gasparyan's Lawyer to File Criminal Complaint

The Armenian government issued a statement today, indicating that Artak Davtyan is legally recognized as the appointed head of the RA Armed Forces General Staff. This comes after the Administrative Court of Armenia, presided over by Judge Mher Petrosyan, accepted a request from the lawyer of Onik Gasparyan, the head of the RA Armed Forces General Staff, to apply protective measures in the case, demanding the suspension of Gasparyan's dismissal until a final judicial act is reached.

"The decision of the Administrative Court has been made, is in force, and is binding for everyone," said Onik Gasparyan's lawyer, Arthur Hovhannisyan, in an interview with Aysor.am.

“When the Prime Minister makes such a statement, he is merely saying, ‘I disregard judicial authority documents in our country,’” the lawyer noted.

He stated that the consequences of this government announcement are both criminal and administrative, and appropriate reports of criminal activity will be submitted to the relevant authorities.

“We will proceed with the relevant procedures, our actions will be taken, and we will inform the public about the results soon. However, what is happening now is unacceptable; it is not a phenomenon befitting a legal state, and we can no longer speak of the rule of law,” said Gasparyan's lawyer.

Hovhannisyan emphasized that the executive disregards the judicial authority documents. “We firmly believe that this will be the same for early elections; the elections will be falsified, and if individuals decide to restore their rights through judicial means, the same consequences will occur, disregarding judicial acts,” he stated.

The lawyer is unaware if Onik Gasparyan went to work today; however, he noted that the legal question is not whether he goes or not, as “the judicial act should not depend on Gasparyan’s presence or absence.”

“The judicial act should have been executed as follows: there should not have been a statement today; the Minister of Defense should have removed Mr. Gasparyan from the General Staff reserve. Other procedures should have been followed to enable Onik Gasparyan to assume and carry out his powers based on the judicial act, which did not happen. This is an abuse of official position,” the lawyer added.

It should be noted that following the Administrative Court's decision, the Prime Minister's office issued a statement asserting that Onik Gasparyan has been relieved of his position as the head of the RA Armed Forces General Staff.

On February 25, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced in a Facebook live broadcast that he had decided to dismiss Onik Gasparyan from the position of head of the Armed Forces General Staff. Earlier that same day, the Armenian Armed Forces demanded the resignation of the Prime Minister and the government.