Wedding Attended By Serzh Sargsyan May Lead to ECtHR Case

Information circulating in the media about RA President Serzh Sargsyan, Minister of Justice Hovhannes Manukyan and PM Hovik Abrahamyan possibly attending Syunik Governor Surik Khachatryan’s son’s wedding could be reason to apply to the ECtHR.

As 168 Zham daily reported, Avetik Budaghyan’s, who was murdered near Syunik Governor Surik Khachatryan’s home on June 1, 2013, family lawyer Hayk Alumyan has petitioned the President, Minister of Justice, and PM to confirm or deny the fact of their presence at the wedding. In an interview with the daily on February 25, Alumyan stated that he currently has a response by only the Minister of Justice stating “that I don’t have the right to be provided such information.”

However, according to the lawyer, the response from the Ministry of Justice is clearly groundless; “With such a response, they don’t prevent me from doing what I’m going to do: to apply to the European Court of Human Rights without exhausting the national court. I sent those letters only so they don’t tell me, why didn’t you attempt to receive that information from your national courts. I made an attempt and I hope, receiving such a response, would give me an advantage at the European Court.” 

When asked by the paper if he would wait for the answers of the other two parties or apply for European Court of Human Rights without receiving them, the lawyer answered; “In all honesty, they still have 2-3 days, I’ll wait because my complaint to the European Court is not completely ready yet, it will likely be ready in 2-3 days. During those days, I’ll either receive the response or if not, I’ll just write that I haven’t received the responses in my complaint.”

Hayk Alumyan said that in the complaint to the EctHR it will be written, that if certain officials, who have authority over the judicial system, are considered so close [to Khachatryan] that they participate in their weddings, then for him the national courts are considered ineffective. 

Recall, that in the evening of June 1st, 2013 near Syunik Governor Surik Khachatryan’s home former Goris mayoral candidate Avetik Budaghyan was killed and his brother Artak Budaghyan injured. In the frame of the initiated criminal case Surik Khachatryan’s son Tigran and security guard Zarzand Nikoghosyan was arrested. Subsequently, the two were later released because the investigative bodies claimed they were acting in self-defense.