Complaint of M. Kirakosyan, ‘Electric Yerevan’ protest participant affected by police actions, was rejected
11:10, May 16, 2017 | News, Own news | Freedom of Assembly and Association, Right to be free from torture and inhuman or degrading treatmentUnder the examination of the complaint against the RA Special Investigation Service decision on discontinuing the criminal proceedings initiated based on ‘Electric Yerevan’ protest participant Mikayel Krakosyan’s crime report on apprehension by force from the protest venue and getting injuries, on May 11, 2017 the General Jurisdiction Court of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun administrative districts held a next-in-turn court hearing when it announced its ruling.
The parties gave final speeches at the court hearing.
In her final speech, Mikayel Kirakosyan’s representative T. Siradeghyan, lawyer at Yerevan office of HCA Vanadzor, expressed a position on the objections provided by the investigating body at the previous court hearing and asked the court to grant the complaint considering it well-grounded.
Supervising prosecutor V. Mkrtchyan, who did not attend the previous court hearing, asked the court to reject the complaint and then argued that the court had no power to annul the investigating body’s decision. Then complainant’s representative T. Siradeghyan countered saying that the complaint in question demanded stopping violation of the rights and freedoms of M. Kirakosyan, victim under the criminal proceedings.
After hearing the final speeches of the parties, the court left to the retiring room and then announced its ruling on rejecting the complaint.
Note that on July 6, 2015 at about 1 pm, M. Kirakosyan was at the sector of Baghramyan Avenue in Yerevan city where the electricity price hike protest launched back on June 23 was still in progress. Upon hearing loud voices, M. Kirakosyan came up to the protest participants and considering it his civic duty decided to stay at the protest venue. Then the police officers started to apprehend the protest participants by force to clear Baghramyan Avenue. M. Kirakosyan was also deprived of liberty and together with other protesters taken to Arabkir Division of the RA Police Yerevan City Department.