Protesters Demand that Armenian Judge Be Punished for Leaving Children with Abusive Father

A group of protesters gathered today outside the Court of Cassation in Yerevan to demand that Lori district court judge Borik Grigoryan be punished for his unlawful decision that Vanadzor resident Lusine Ghabuzyan, a mother of 5 children, leave three of them under the guardianship of their father pending court proceedings.

Ghabuzyan left her civil partner Karen Khechoyan, who during their life together periodically subjected the woman to physical abuse, in 2015 and went to court to demand that she be awarded sole custody of their five children. The trial is still ongoing, but judge Grigoryan has decided to leave three of the kids with the father until a final verdict is issued.

“On December 17, the judge, without notifying the parties and with no good justification, issued a decision, limiting the mother’s rights [ in the child custody case]. Lusine was not even notified of the decision, and we only found out about it January, when officials from the Judicial Acts Compulsory Enforcement Service phoned Lusine and told her to take the children to their father. We are protesting because the children cannot be unlawfully taken away from their father, especially when their father had deprived Lusine from seeing them for one and a half years,” Hasmik Gevorgyan, a representative of Women’s Support Center NGO, said in a conversation with Epress.am.

“This is a classic case of domestic abuse: the woman fled her house after yet another violent episode, and the father now wants to forcibly take away her children. There is a clear discrimination here, which is a result of the patriarchal system. So far [provincial authorities] have been acting in favour of Karen Khechoyan, and Ghavuzyan has only received the support of the police juvenile division. No other [state] agency has done anything to help the woman,” Gevorgyan added.

According to the human rights activist, the demonstrators have submitted appeal letters to Armenia’s prime minister Karen Karapetyan, human rights ombudsman Arman Tatoyan, and the Council of Justice, to demand punitive measures preventing the judge’s unethical behaviour.

Note, Karen Khechoyan has previously been found guilty of subjecting his wife Lusine Ghabuzyan and minor daughter Marusya Khechoyan to physical abuse and fined AMD 150 thousand (about $300).