Epress.am News from Armenia
The Armavir Marz’s Court of First Instance handed a verdict recognizing Echmiadzin resident Ashot Khudoyan’s right to his two residential homes and plot of land by way of prescription. The latter was told to Epress.am by Ashot Khudoyan’s wife, Heghine Makaryan, who spent the last two years conducting sit-ins with her husband in front of the Presidential Palace, demanding a fair trial for the issue of their home.
The judge considered it a proof that the last 10 years Ashot Khudoyan resided in his Echmiadzin city’s Shahumyan 27 home, and used the property as his personal home. According to Makaryan, the verdict was just, because the Court of Appeals has a precedent, with the basis that if a person lives in the same home continuously for 10 years, then by the statute of limitations the court recognizes their property rights. Meanwhile, the Armavir Marz’s Court of First Instance rejected the Khudoyan’s suit, in which the family demanded that Ashot Khudoyan’s grandfather’s be considered valid. The will stated that the home be handed down to him. Heghine Makaryan noted that, nevertheless, it was important that the property was recognized as theirs by the court.
Ashot Khudoyan first began his protest in front of the Presidential Palace back in June 29, 2013. Khudoyan claimed that his sister, Marieta Kalashyan, with the help of cadastre workers, faked his grandfather's will to state the Echmiadzin house belonged to her.
Khudoyan left his sit-in site in front of the Presidential Palace a few times, due to certain bureaucrats that promised him that his issue would be solved, however the situation never changed, and he continued his sit-in. On November 11, 2013, Ashot Khudoyan had sewed his mouth shut while in front of the presidential palace. One day after, police officers forcefully took him away from his sit-in and threw him into an emergency ambulance which took him to a psychiatric clinic and released the same day he arrived. Khudoyan agreed to remove the stitches only after he met with Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan. The latter had promised a fair trial, however, last November Khudoyan returned again to Baghramyan St. and continued his sit-in, noting that the issue was not resolved after he spoke to Kostanyan. Khudoyan also submitted a complaint against the police actions against him, demanding a criminal case be opened. The suit was rejected this past June.
On December 2, when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Armenia, Khudoyan’s family was removed again from the sidewalk across the Presidential Palace. Subsequently, he returned to his sit-in once more this past January.