Armenian Human Rights Activist Claims She’s Been Falsely Accused of Extortion, Demands Case Be Re-Opened

Head of “Veles” Human Rights NGO Marina Poghosyan claims former Head of the RA Civil Aviation Department Hovhannes Yeritsyan is trying to put pressure on her with the aim of hindering her human rights activities.

Poghosyan says she's come to know Yeritsyan through the people who've suffered from the official's usurious activities and applied to her organization for legal support. Yeritsyan, according to Poghosyan, lent money on interest to the victims and subsequently took away their property. The former aviation head, in turn, reported extortion on Poghosyan's part; however, preliminary investigation did  not find evidence supporting the claim, and Poghosyan has filed false accusation charges against Yeritsyan.

“We want the case to be re-investigated and Yeritsyan be convicted of false accusations. In addition, an objective investigation would also reveal the cases of several of our clients and would uncover Hovhannes Yeritsyan's mafia,” Poghosyan told an Epress.am reporter Wednesday after the hearing at the Court of Appeal.

Note, in summer, the Court of First Instance, presided over by judge Armen Bektashyan, granted Marina Pogosyan's claim and sent the case for re-investigation. The ruling was announced on July 31; however, an investigation was not initiated, and in September, public prosecutor Martin Nalbandyan appealed against the verdict, which can legally done only within 10 days.

At the hearing on October 7, the prosecutor explained that he had received the judicial act from the court on September 15 so he “had no chance to appeal earlier.”

“They did not appeal until I applied to the Special Investigation Service to look into and prove the investigator's criminal activities, and until Yeritsyan came back from Moscow and bribed them in order to appeal. If Bektashyan was so late to send the verdict, why didn't you apply to the Council of Justice?” Poghosyan, who sees intent in the investigator's and prosecutor's actions, stated in court.

Investigator Paruyr Aghababyan, in turn, announced that Poghosyan's rights had not been violated, as stated in the verdict of the Court of First Instance: “Criminal proceedings against Marina Poghosyan were not initiated,” he stated.

“Basically, what they are saying is I have to be happy and grateful that I'm free,” Poghosyan told our reporter after the hearing.