VIDEO: This was expected. We will appeal to the ECHR. Davit Harutyunyan on the termination of his powers

"From the first day, I said this was expected; there were no surprises. This was noted today, on July 3, during a conversation with reporters by Judge Davit Harutyunyan of the General Jurisdiction Criminal Court of Yerevan, whose powers were recently terminated by a decision of the Judicial Council of Armenia.

“It is impossible to have any objective expectations from Karen Andreasian. Naturally, these objective expectations will be addressed at the ECHR and other platforms and procedures,” he stated.

Referring to the motion he submitted, Davit Harutyunyan said, “They did not address the motion at all. The last opportunity was given to the council to consider it, but they did not address any of the motions, nor did they make a decision. Those decisions were not published and were not justified; it was indicated that this would be done in a consultative act. You even saw that the publication of the judicial act, which was supposed to take place in an open court session, was, in fact, behind closed doors again. I believe everything is clear; this is a lack of experience, they are just trying to use diligent people during this time. It is simply impossible to justify this. To use so many people, to create barriers for the regulators, to seat department staff in the courtroom as though the room is occupied. They didn’t even attempt to create at least an illusion that things were done according to the law. Even if it is written here as Judicial Council, this is merely a sign. A person does not become a judge by merely signing a decree or wearing a robe.”

He mentioned that the Judicial Council should serve as an example for judges, but the opposite is occurring. “If at least two members of the council had not voted against, there would be no talk of a violation, and the motion could not have been granted. It is at least possible and does not exclude that one person may have voted against, or I wouldn’t be surprised if 2-3 people voted against, and such a decision was published. Every person chooses their own destiny, which path to take,” he added.

He further stated that he would intensify work related to the appeal submitted to the European Court, as well as report related to criminal liability, and the issue will be examined.