Verdict in Favor of Republican Lawmaker Upheld by Armenia’s Appeal Court

The Armenian Court of Appeal on Tuesday, November 25, rejected a challenge filed by human rights activist, Head of Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor office Artur Sakunts against law enforcement authorities' decision not to initiate criminal proceedings against ruling Republican Party MP Arakel Movsisyan.

Recall, Sakunts claims that Movsisyan's summer statements in which he had threatened “to decapitate and rape” those who talk negatively of Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan and his family members contained elements of crime. “Those bastards are not so much at fault as their fathers, who must be found and beheaded, because their families, apparently, don't know what a family, a home is […] God willing, I will personally catch and behead them. I urge them to stay put because if, God forbid, they are caught, they’ll most definitely be raped,” Movsisyan had, in particular, said.

Based on a report filed by Sakunts, the RA Special Investigation Service prepared materials on the incident; however, the investigative body subsequently decided not to initiate criminal proceedings against Movsisyan since, according to authorities, there were no elements of death threat, threats of causing grievous bodily harm, or damage to property (RA Criminal Code Article 137) present in the Republican lawmaker's statements. 

On October 2, 2015, the first instance court of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun administrative districts, presided over by judge Levon Avetisyan, found the SIS' decision “legally justified.”