Judges Insult Current Authorities in Internal Group, Forced to Submit Resignation Requests - 'Haylour' Newspaper

Judges have remained unprotected, under fire and pressure from all sides, resulting in many of them submitting applications and leaving. Yesterday, based on a decision of the Supreme Judicial Council, the powers of Court of Appeals Judge Karen Mardanyan and the judge of the Anti-Corruption Chamber of the Court of Cassation Sergey Marabyan were terminated based on their own applications. Prior to this, Arshak Vardanyan concluded his judicial career according to his own application. This was reported by the 'Haylour' newspaper.

According to the newspaper's information, the next judge who will submit a resignation application of his own initiative and leave the judicial system is Andranik Mnatsakanyan, a judge from the Aragatsotn region. Furthermore, there are reports that, apart from resignation, other processes might be initiated against him. What is happening in the judicial system? According to the information available, notable correspondence has emerged in which the aforementioned judges have insulted specific high-ranking officials of the government in their group, and one of the judges conveyed this correspondence to the political authorities. Following this, the judges who made the insults are being forced to submit resignation requests voluntarily and depart from the system.

According to media reports, the correspondence was conveyed to the political authorities by Rubik Mkhitaryan, a judge of the RA Court of Appeals, who is termed the 'judge of the heart' of the authorities, and they are trying to bring him to the Supreme Judicial Council as a member judge at all costs. Meanwhile, what is the Supreme Judicial Council of the Republic of Armenia, represented by President Karen Andreasyan, occupied with? According to the constitutional law of the Republic of Armenia, the Supreme Judicial Council is an independent state body that ensures the independence of courts and judges through the powers defined by the Constitution and law. However, in reality, Karen Andreasyan is not defending the independence of judges but is one of those exerting pressure on judges through various means.

In response to Auroranews’ inquiry, the spokesperson of the Supreme Judicial Council stated that the matter falls under the jurisdiction of the Council's members, and information should be gathered from them. They then requested to submit a written inquiry to compile all the information, understand the situation, and then relay it to us.