Epress.am News from Armenia
The RA Special Investigation Service had made a decision rejecting the initiation of a criminal case for violence used against 76-year old Zinaida Gyozalyan and Veles NGO president Marina Poghosyan. The latter consequently appealed the decision, while today, March 6, the Court of General Jurisdiction of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun administrative districts, representated by Judge Levon Avetisyan, rejected the appeal, stating it as ungrounded.
According to Poghosyan, on March 17, 2014, during an eviction of residents of a textiles shop on Abovyan St., employees from the Judicial Act Compulsory Enforcement Service subjected 75-year old Zinaida Gyuzalyan to violence and when she tried to intervene, they locked her in a room. Afterwards, the employees used violence against Poghosyan by taking her outside the residence and throwing her down the stairs. According to the investigator of the case, the service employees had “gently embraced the human rights defender.”
Marina Poghosyan, who appealed to the court, noted that investigator Sargsyan had not only showed inaction, for example, not organizing a confrontation or taking into account the fact that they had called the police and others multiple times that day, but also allowed an official fraud, issueing four identical testimonies of the victims.
Poghosyan also noted that the day of the event she was present there as a human rights defender and her name was not in the court decision, so the Judicial Act Compulsory Enforcement Service employees had no right to subject her to violence.
Prosecutor Yeritsyan was in court defending the SIS’ decision. He countered, saying that Marina Poghosyan had created obstacles for the representatives of JACES, and for that reason they “were made” to use force.
Marina Poghosyan will appeal the decision to the Court of Appeals.