Epress.am News from Armenia
The Administrative Court of Armenia, presided over by judge Gevorg Sosyan, today dismissed the suit filed by Gohar Sargsyan, mother of conscript Tigran Ohanjanyan who was killed during military service in 2007, against the Armenian police, which sought to establish that the actions of law enforcement officers on February 11, 2015, were unlawful.
Recall, on February 11, 2015, police officers used excessive force to prevent a group of soldiers’ parents from staging a demonstration outside the residence of the Armenian president.
After the issuance of today’s verdict, those present in the courtroom, including mothers of several other soldiers killed in non-combat conditions, began shouting “shame on the judge” and that the judge was “carrying out an order.”
Speaking to Epress.am after the hearing, Sargsyan’s lawyer, Robert Revazyan said in turn that the verdict was “both expected and unexpected” for him: “It was expected because we don’t have an independent judicial system. On the other hand, it was unexpected because the defendant had presented no counterarguments to our claims. I’m convinced that the court did not make this decision independently. The [judge] was either pressured or intimidated [to dismiss the suit].” Revazyan added that his client intended to appeal against this decision.
On Monday morning, just before the start of the court hearing, the mothers held a nearly one-hour-long demonstration outside the presidential residence. When asked by an Epress.am reporter as to why the protesters were this time allowed to stand outside the residence and were not being dispersed, police captain Najaryan replied: “They are standing normally. Right now they are just standing here, right beside us. We see no problems, and are not going to create any. As to what happened [on February 11], I can’t say.”
The deputy head of the Arabkir police station, lieutenant colonel Karen Babelyan, then intervened in the conversation to express his “hope that the court issues a right verdict today.”
“In our country, the final decision belongs to the court; let’s wait for it and see who was actually at fault in the incident. If any [police officers] are in fact at fault, they will be punished accordingly,” Babelyan insisted.