I Have Never Seen Anything Like This: Waving at the Constitutional Court, Pressuring the Court in Such a Way - Kocharyan's Lawyer Aram Vardevanyan

If the Constitutional Court decides that Article 300.1 does not conform to the Constitution, it is such an obvious truth that even making the verbal procedure more accessible for those who do not fully grasp this intricate legal issue is less helpful than one can imagine right now. This was stated by Aram Vardevanyan, the lawyer of the second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, after the meeting of the Constitutional Court.

"For example, I was preparing to present the issue in such an accessible language within the framework of the verbal procedure that there would be no one left in our society who could believe that this disgraceful article could be constitutional. Of course, its consequence will also be that the prosecution under Article 300.1 will be terminated," he mentioned.

He pointed out another aspect, saying, “Last night, Tigran Yeghoryan, who is directly connected with this government and also directly connected with the CC judge, I have never seen anything like this; pressuring the CC in such a way, saying that you must make a decision to terminate the criminal prosecution, waving at the CC – this is simply astonishing, even horrifying. He is a lawyer as well; have you ever seen such an act from my side? I am again referring to the examination of the case at the CC one day prior, with Vahe Grigoryan, who is also a directly connected person in relation to the CC. Although Vahe Grigoryan did not participate in the complaint hearing, at least we all still recall the wiretaps published in 2018, regarding Vahe Grigoryan's direct status with regard to the criminal case under Article 300.1, not in terms of a procedural status,” he added.

Commenting on the suggestion by CC members Arevik Petrosyan and Hrayr Tovmasyan to conduct the case examination verbally, he deemed it more than justified.

He also informed that 15 days ago he had submitted a similar motion, and again the result was 4/4. “The fact that this case is subject to mandatory examination in a verbal procedure according to the law on the Constitutional Court is not a novelty. The law on the CC stipulates that only cases of public significance are examined in a verbal procedure. Does this case not have public significance? I think it is clear for everyone. The fact that a verbal procedure would allow this entire discussion to become more accessible for a detailed understanding, for me, at least, was not clear why this was classified as a legal issue; let’s examine it in a written procedure. Did the issue of the law on 'Accumulated Pensions' in 2014 not qualify as a legal issue when it was examined in a verbal procedure?”

He noted that he was perplexed that when there was a motion to switch to a verbal procedure, Mr. Dilyanov suggested taking a break. “This seemed like a signal to other judges. I naturally welcome that Mr. Dilyanov withdrew from that initiative, but I was closely observing the CC judges and also felt perplexed, because to say something like this means you are presenting an important motion - saying let’s take a break and see”.

It is worth mentioning that today at the Constitutional Court, the applications of the General Jurisdiction Court judge of Yerevan, David Grigoryan, and the accused in the 'March 1' case, Robert Kocharyan, who is charged with subverting the constitutional order, are being examined, during which the CC is disputing the constitutionality of Article 300.1 of the Armenian Criminal Code.