Aghvan Hovsepyan's Defense Team Raises Concerns Over Prolonged Detention

The series of irregularities surrounding Aghvan Hovsepyan continue at various levels. This is stated in a message released by the defense team of the former Chief Prosecutor of Armenia and former head of the Investigative Committee, Aghvan Hovsepyan.

“In particular, there is a problem set to keep Aghvan Hovsepyan in detention as long as possible, which is being executed through specifically selected judges. We also note that Aghvan Hovsepyan’s detention is no longer applied as a measure to prevent further crimes, but rather as a punishment,” the statement reads.

It is reported that the last extension of Aghvan Hovsepyan’s detention was ordered by Judge Davit Arghamanyan of the Yerevan City Court of General Jurisdiction, who has unjustifiably and illegally prolonged it. The order for the rejection of the defense's appeal against this illegal decision was given to Judge Armen Danielyan of the Court of Appeal.

It is noteworthy that these names are already associated with obviously unfounded and illegal judicial acts among anyone with even minor connections to the field and lead the “top ten judges who impose detention.” It is undeniable that these judges have been specifically appointed to keep Aghvan Hovsepyan detained for as long as possible.

For the purpose of justifying these special appointments, we have demanded both Davit Arghamanyan and Armen Danielyan to require the court president to present the corresponding evidence (factual data) confirming that the case against Aghvan Hovsepyan has been assigned to them in accordance with legal norms — according to the alphabetical order of the judges' surnames, which would ensure the principle of random selection of judges, rather than the court president's subjective desire dictating that these judges should handle the case.

Of course, both judges have illegally rejected our motions, as they were evidently aware that these cases had been assigned to them in gross violation of the established legal procedures, hence they chose to allow the gross violation of Aghvan Hovsepyan's fundamental right to a fair trial rather than even attempt to clarify this information from the court president (they did not even have the courage to take steps towards clarifying this information).

Based on the above, we have submitted a motion for the self-recusal of both judges, stating, among other things, that in the absence of random assignment of the cases against Aghvan Hovsepyan in accordance with the alphabetical order of the judges' surnames, they cannot be considered a “court established on the basis of law.”

Both judges have rejected the self-recusal motions to carry out the tasks assigned to them uninterrupted.

Armen Danielyan has scheduled the appeal hearing for February 4, 2022, at 09:30, but the defense team, as a protest against the aforementioned irregularities, will not participate in the appeal hearing, deeming it pointless to participate in a court session presided by Armen Danielyan.

The defense team of Aghvan Hovsepyan will also submit applications to the relevant authorities regarding the accountability of both judges.