Ruling on Founding Parliament Member Hovhannes Ghazaryan’s Case Appealed
14:31, October 20, 2015 | News, Own news | Founding ParliamentOn April 7, 2015, Founding Parliament Member (Lori Marz (Region) Coordinator) Hovhannes Ghazaryan’s apartment and office were searched, and afterwards he was apprehended as a witness to the RA High-Profile Cases Investigation Department without any factual and legal grounds and kept there 11 hours. Upon learning of such searches, the HCA Vanadzor involved lawyers Artur Harutyunyan and Artur Sukiasyan to protect H. Ghazaryan’s interests. The lawyers above attended all the investigative actions and further protected his interests. On the same day, the other members of the Founding Parliament also underwent similar searches, and this suggests that the persons above, including H. Ghazaryan, suffered political persecution. In its application to the High-Profile Cases Investigation Department, the Organization required to provide copies of the protocols of all the investigation and procedural actions attended by H. Ghazaryan as of April 7, 2015 as well as copies of the court rulings on searching the premises owned and possessed by him. At the same time, the Organization required to return all the items confiscated from him during the private search. In his response letter, A. Makinyan, Senior Investigator at the RA High-Profile Cases General Investigation Department, stated that the request to return the confiscated items was delayed till the essential facts for deciding on the case were established. As for the other requirements in the application, the letter read that criminal procedure participants with the procedural status of witnesses had no such right under the RA Criminal Procedure Code. Later, on May 13 2015, the application to the RA General Prosecutor’s Office requested to instruct the investigators to stop the violation of H. Ghazaryan’s rights. In response to this application, V. Poghosyan, Prosecutor at the High-Profile Cases Investigation Department, RA General Prosecutor’s Office, rejected the application without making any decree. The appeal filed under this case to the General Jurisdiction Court of Yerevan Kentron and Nork-Marash administrative districts was upheld partially. Particularly, the court ruling made it possible for H. Ghazaryan to enjoy his rights of a suspect or accused, namely to get familiar with the protocols of investigation and other procedural actions he attended and make relevant copies. Also, the Court instructed the investigators to decree over the appeal of May 13, 2015. The Court rejected the appeal requirements of factual recognition of the infringement on H. Ghazaryan’s rights and return of the items seized during the search at his apartment and office on April 4, 2015.