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#Armenia at risk of an encroaching totalitarian regime

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The second president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan (pictured), was released on 18 May, on the personal guarantees of the current and former presidents of the Republic of Karabakh.  Robert Kocharyan has been held in pre-trial detention in violation of his human rights since the court of appeal decision in December 2018.

On Saturday 18 May, demonstrations erupted in central Yerevan protesting against the release of the former President from pre-trial detention. An MP from Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract Party posted on Facebook the same day a call for citizens to gather at the court, to demonstrate public outrage at the court’s decision and “convince the judge to make the correct decision”. After the court gave the decision to release Mr Kocharyan under the personal guarantees, the protestors demanded that the government must do something within 24 hours, or they would close all the streets. Prime Minister Pashinyan addressed his followers via Facebook Live on Sunday 19 May, calling on them to close all courts in Armenia from 08.30 Monday morning. The PM promised to bring the judiciary back under the control of people, as part of the second phase of the revolution.

The Ombudsman of Armenia, Arman Tatoyan said in a statement on 19 May that the prime minister’s appeal “is extremely dangerous for the security and stability of the country's legal system, I request the immediate cessation of  appeals or requests to block the proceedings and exits of the courts. I urge all Armenian citizens to abstain from actions that block the courts' buildings”.

Access to courts were blocked on 20 May, barring entry and exit by judges to their courts. In a televised address,  Prime Minister Pashinyan said: “The judiciary’s decisions are unacceptable to the public: I am stating this not just as a prime minister, but also as a representative of the Armenian people who has the political right to speak on behalf of the people, that is on behalf of the highest power in Armenia.”

The Prime Minister declared that “the time has come to carry out a surgical intervention in the judicial system. […] All judges in Armenia should be subjected to vetting. […] All those judges who have been recognized by the European Court of Human Rights to have committed gross violations of human rights should resign or be removed from their posts. All those judges who know inside themselves that they cannot be impartial, and objective should resign…”

Haik Alumyan, the legal representative for former President Kocharyan commented on the developments since Kocharyan’s release, saying: "In the complaint to the European Court of Human Rights I had noted that any judge who examines Kocharyan’s case may have fears that in case his decision is not to the liking of the Prime Minister, the latter may call on his supporters to organize a similar attack on the court of Armenia, too. With his call on Saturday 19 May the Prime Minister has helped to substantiate a very important provision of our complaint by doing exactly what I had predicted.”

Aram Orbelyan, another legal representative of the former president, said: “His continuous repetition that power belongs to the people completely disregards another, even more important Constitutional provision which states that human rights and freedoms are the ultimate goal. Without regard for human rights, Armenia is at risk of an encroaching populist totalitarian regime.”

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