Epress.am News from Armenia
Members of the initiative "Let's prevent the increase in [natural] gas prices" today submitted to the Administrative Court 5130 of the 12 000 signatures collected since Nov. 15 at Liberty Square, demanding to include consumers as a third party, said former presidential candidate Andreas Ghukasyan (pictured below) during the demonstration outside the Administrative Court today.
Back in August the initiative appealed to the courts to annul the decision to raise gas and electricity tariffs in Armenia, considering the price hike to be illegal.
"Public support was important for us, so that the trial take place verbally, which will provide the opportunity of discussing in detail the decisions to commit illegal acts and make an unlawful decision.There is a clear idea that the committee fulfilled a political order and there are no grounds for raising the gas and electricity tariffs, and the increase was artificial in nature," he said.
He said that the public's attention and participation is very important for the court to arrive at an impartial decision.
"Yesterday we learned that the court has involved ArmRosGazprom and the Electric Networks of Armenia as third parties in these disputes, which likewise is an illegal decision. This means that the public display of support this week has not gone unnoticed by the authorities. They are trying with their actions to 'save' the disgraceful decision within the judicial process," said Ghukasyan.
Fellow demonstrator Ani Kaghinyan stressed that the petition that began in Yerevan will continue to gather signatures — from Gyumri and Vanadzor to the most remote villages of the country.
"I am asking for everyone's active participation; this is an issue that affects us all. As a result of the petition, the Administrative Court yesterday hand-delivered to us its decision, which was a surprising shift, since in four months there has been no response from them," she said.