On 1 June, the trial in the case of Judge Arusyak Aleksanyan, her assistant Tamara Petrosyan and Lawyer Erik Aleksanyan was continued in the Anti-Corruption Court.
On 17 October, 2022, the Supreme Judicial Council approved the petitions of the General Prosecutor’s Office regarding the initiation of criminal prosecution against Judge Arusyak Aleksanyan and provided consent to deprivation of liberty. Within the framework of the same case, the lawyer Erik Aleksanyan was also charged under Article 46-441 of the Criminal Code, that is, he assisted an official in abusing office or official powers or the influence caused by them or exceeding the powers. In the framework of this case, Arusyak Aleksanyan’s assistant Tamara Petrosyan was also charged.
The defendants do not accept the charges against them.
According to Iravaban.net, during today’s session, Arusyak Aleksanyan’s defense attorney Andranik Manukyan petitioned the court to postpone the hearings in the criminal case and appeal to the Constitutional Court. According to the lawyer, pursuant to the norms of the Criminal Procedure Code, the Anti-Corruption Court is not authorized to apply the preventive measure of “arrest” to the accused or to extend its term.
Andranik Manukyan noted that Article 316 of the Criminal Code, which is mentioned in the decision to detain the defendant, does not give the court the authority to apply such a preventive measure. According to him, the reason is that the above-mentioned article provides for the discussion of the issue related to the issue of the preventive measure chosen in the pre-trial proceedings or the selection of a new preventive measure. “I find that there is an urgent need to apply to the CC.”
Arusyak Aleksanyan joined the motion presented by Andranik Manukyan and asked to grant it. She noted that this problem does not concern only her and may concern any accused. “Honorable court, isn’t considering the 5-6 months duration of preliminary court hearings normal on your part to artificially extend the duration of my detention as much as possible?” According to me, it is pursuing that very goal.”
According to the defendant, the case has been under the presiding judge Vahe Dolmazyan’s proceedings since 4 January, and during that time “he managed to violate the presumption of innocence of the judge, grossly violated the right to defense, illegally detained twice, rejected all motions submitted by the defense,” she said.
Arusyak Aleksanyan urged the judge to grant the petition, if the latter does not have “constraints, hidden fears” related to this case. According to the defendant, she has the impression that some officials are afraid of the prospect of her release. “Of course, I feel that they value my personality so much. To put it mildly, they put think I am Rambo and have certain fears about my release.”
Addressing the trial participants, Vahe Dolmazyan noted that the court is well aware of the nature of its actions and the significance of each decision it makes.
Public prosecutor Armen Gevorgyan stated that he does not share the arguments based on the motion presented by the defense side. He mentioned that as a result of checking the legality and validity of the judicial act made by the court of first instance, the Court of Appeal gave certain comments to it.
“I find that there is no constitutional dispute at all, and the observations of the defense side, related to the illegal restriction of personal rights, may apparently correspond to the violation of the criminal procedure law provided for by Article 362 of the Criminal Code,” the prosecutor noted.
Vahe Dolmazyan decided to reject the petition, noting that there is no legislative gap. Then the judge announced the end of the preliminary hearings, the main hearings were scheduled. The first session of this trial phase will take place on 7 June.
Yevgenya Hambardzumyan
