Epress.am News from Armenia
A few dozen demonstrators today held a protest action outside the Shengavit courthouse in Yerevan to demand that judge Nelly Baghdasaryan be fired from her position at the court. Those participating in the protest had brought a bloody ax with them which was meant to symbolize “the ax that was given by Baghdasaryan” to Vladik Martirosyan, a Yerevan man who on July 8 axed his former mother-in-law to death and left his ex-wife and her father severely injured. The demonstrators also held posters reading “You Rule, We Die,” “System of Injustice,” “Fire Criminal Nelly Baghdasaryan!” “We Deserve Respect, Not Beatings,” “Silent Indifference,” etc.
Note, in 2015 court proceedings presided over by Nelly Baghdasaryan, Vladik Martirosyan was found guilty of having subjected his then-wife Taguhi Mansuryan to domestic violence on at least three separate occasions; however, he never actually served any time in prison thanks to Baghdasaryan's decision to impose a six-month suspended sentence against him.
“The action was organized by the 'Coalition to Stop Violence against Women.' We want Nelly Baghdasaryan to know that we see and condemn her discriminatory and biased verdicts. Her arbitrary decisions have led to a crime with a fatal outcome,” Coalition coordinator Zara Hovhannisyan stated.
The activist added that their organization had also conveyed a letter to court officials addressed to Armenia's Justice Ministry and the Ethics Committee of the country's Council of Courts, demanding that disciplinary proceedings be instituted against Nelly Baghdasaryan. According to Zara Hovhannisyan, such tragic incidents are a consequence of the justice system's non-serious attitude toward domestic violence cases. “They urge women to reconcile with abusive husbands and do not actually subject abusers to any punishment,” the activist argued.
The demonstrators then marched from the courthouse to the Mansuryans' house, drawing the attention of local residents who'd approach the march, curious to know what the posters read and what the aim of the action was. It turned out that some of them were not even aware of what had happened several days ago in a neighbouring building.
Speaking to reporters, Women's Resource Center NGO member Tatevik Aghabekyan said that on the day of the murder the Mansuryans' neighbours had heard the victims' cries for help but paid no mind to them. “No one came to their rescue. Only at the end did a woman come out and take away [the couple’s 1,5-year-old baby]. As far as we know, later this woman's husband even told the murderer to 'just go, we'll do something.' No one even called the police; Taguhi's injured father had to call them himself.”
The demonstrators proceeded to hold a candlelight vigil at the door of the family's apartment and were not joined by any of the neighbours. The saleslady of a local store, for her part, insisted that the murdered woman “must have had done something to bring it upon herself” when answering a reporter's question as to whether she thought the woman might have lived had the neighbour's intervened in time.
Before leaving, the demonstrators left some writings on the walls of the Mansuryans' building: “A mother who protected her child;” “Might come in handy: 1-02, 1-03 [police and ambulance numbers].” The aim of these writings, they said, was to remind people that in cases such as this one, they needed to help those in trouble and not become a silent accomplice to a murder.