Decision to Detain Hrayr Tovmasyan Made

Under the chairmanship of Judge Tatevik Grigoryan, the Criminal Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan made a decision to detain former Constitutional Court President and Judge Hrayr Tovmasyan with the basis of presenting him to the court.

“The court has the option to enter the field of formalism and make one decision, or it can enter the field of non-formalism and make another decision. It may also choose to utilize norms outside the Criminal Code based on convenience. What happened here? The court removed Hrayr Tovmasyan from the hall, did not notify him about the sessions that took place during his absence, and Tovmasyan was not informed whether his 10 hours had already elapsed or not. The judge has reasons to appear biased,” said Hrayr Tovmasyan's lawyer, Aram Orbelian, in a conversation with journalists.

He added that there are also violations of the laws of the Constitutional Court, as without the permission of the Constitutional Court, it is not permissible to detain a member of the Court. “The court has made an unlawful decision, as a reasonable process of notifying Tovmasyan was not conducted,” Orbelian further stated.