Anna Danibekyan Decides to Summon Armen Gevorgyan to Court

The general jurisdiction court of Yerevan has once again postponed the hearing of the case ED/0253/01/19 by a week. The defense attorney of former Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan, Erik Aleksanyan, requested to delay the session, stating that his client is now a member of the National Assembly of the 8th convocation and is participating in the session that began on August 2; objectively, he is unable to attend the court hearing.

Aleksanyan also informed that Armen Gevorgyan has been nominated by the 'Armenia' faction for the position of chairman of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration. Currently, the elections for the chairmen of the standing committees are underway in the National Assembly. Furthermore, the 'Armenia' faction has submitted an application to the Constitutional Court regarding the issue of parliamentary immunity.

The court deemed the absence of Armen Gevorgyan as disrespectful. Prosecutor Petros Petrosyan requested that procedural coercion measures be applied and that Gevorgyan be summoned to the next court session. Defense attorney Aleksanyan reminded that Gevorgyan currently has a new status; he is immune, and no coercive measures can be applied to him without the permission of the National Assembly.

Former President Robert Kocharyan, for his part, emphasized that the sessions underway in the National Assembly are provided for by the Constitution and are not designated by the decision of a single person. Additionally, voting is planned in the parliament, and the elections for the vice-speaker of the National Assembly indicated that even the absence of a single individual can play a decisive role. 'If this becomes judicial practice, it could become a mechanism for influencing serious political processes,' said Robert Kocharyan, suggesting that the days of National Assembly and court sessions should be separated.

Judge Danibekyan announced that measures must be taken to ensure the presence of Armen Gevorgyan at the next court session and decided to summon the former Deputy Prime Minister to court for the next session.

Today's court session was postponed until August 17 at 13:00.