Investigator confirmed: “Disclosure by the doctor of the information that Kajik Grigoryan was a drug user was not required by professional necessity”
10:44, February 11, 2017 | News, Own news | Right to an Effective Remedy of Legal Protection, Right to liberty and security
On February 9, 2017, the General Jurisdiction Court of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun administrative districts, presided by Judge A. Nikoghosyan, resumed examination of HCA Vanadzor NGO’s complaint under the case of Kajik Grigoryan, who burnt himself on Baghramyan Avenue.
Note that in his interview to the journalists, N. Davidyan, Director of the Republican Scientific Center for Radiation Medicine and Burns, mentioned that the person who burnt himself was HIV-positive and “had drug addiction” and described him as an “avid drug addict” disclosing information on his 10 years’ imprisonment.
By his decree of September 29, 2016, K. Khanumyan, Investigator for High-Profile Cases at the General Department for High-Profile Cases of the RA Investigative Committee, rejected, based on lack of elements of crime, to initiate criminal proceedings based on HCA Vanadzor NGO’s crime report on disclosing information considered medical secret on Kajik Grigoryan.
The court hearing was attended by HCA Vanadzor’s representative Tatevik Siradeghyan, lawyer at Yerevan Office of the Organization, K. Khanumyan, Investigator responsible for the investigation, and V. Poghosyan, Senior Prosecutor at the Department for High-Profile Cases of the RA Prosecutor General’s Office. The notification sent by the Court to N. Davidyan was returned with the note “Unclaimed”.
K. Khanumyan, responsible for the investigation, objected to the complaint and considered his decree well-grounded justifying Norayr Davidyan’s actions by the intention to prevent the risk of infection among the other persons who contacted K. Grigoryan. As for the words “drug addiction” and “drug addict” addressed by the doctor to him, the investigator linked them by the necessity to provide comprehensive information on his health status and insisted that N. Davidyan’s actions complied with the requirements of the RA Law on Freedom of Information.
Along with the other issues raised in the complaint, the investigator also referred to making judgments about the doctor’s actions without initiating a criminal case. The complaint emphasized the fact that at the stage of initiating criminal proceedings, the lawfulness of the reason and grounds for initiating such proceedings should be considered with no mention of the subject of the elements of crime and the subjective side, and the motives of Norayr Davidyan’s actions should not have become subject of discussion during preparation of case materials. In spite of this, the investigator still went on insisting that during the preparation of the case materials, the agency responsible for the proceedings may also refer to the other elements of crime, namely the presence or absence of subject and subjective side.
It is quite noteworthy that in response to the Court’s questions, the investigator confirmed that making public the information on Kajik Grigoryan’s being a drug user was not conditioned by any professional necessity.
The next court hearing is scheduled for March 13, 2017, at 5 pm.