During the meeting with the Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council Karen Andreasyan and the “Armenia” Faction of the National Assembly held on 1 March of this year, the video made by the Judicial Department about the delays in a number of cases of public interest was discussed, after which the “Armenia” Faction requested a similar study on behalf of its voters referring to the cases of:.

• Producer Armen Grigoryan,
• Mamikon Aslanyan, former head of Vanadzor Community,
• Suren Manukyan and others.

The SJC Press Service reportedl.

“In addition, the deputies of the “Armenia” Faction emphasized that it is not acceptable for them to provide and publish information in the format of a video/report and asked to provide the relevant information in the format of “reference”.

Considering the above said, as a result of a study conducted by the Office of Analysis and Monitoring of the Judicial Department, we present the relevant information in the requested format.

Criminal case concerning Producer Armen Grigoryan

Accusation

Armen Grigoryan was accused of committing actions aimed at publicly humiliating national dignity.

Process of the case

29.06.2022 the criminal case was entered in the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan city and on the same day it was assigned electronically to Judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan.

1 defendant and 8 witnesses were represented in the list of subpoenas in the criminal case.

The duration of this criminal case in the first instance was 1 year 5 months 19 days, court sessions were scheduled once every 25 days on average.

During the entire examination of the case, 22 court sessions were scheduled, 20 court sessions were held in the normal course and 2 court sessions “did not take place” (those were “opened-closed” or no actions were taken to support the investigation during the session). Thus,

• The reason for “non-holding” of one of the court sessions was the workload of the prosecutor, as a result of which the investigation of the case was actually postponed for a period of 18 days.

The next court session “did not take place” due to workload of Defense Attorne Ruben Melikyan and due to the health condition of the Defense Attorne Armen Mashinyan, as a result of which the investigation of the case was actually postponed for a period of 8 days.

Thus, 26 days were “lost” from the examination of the case that lasted 1 year, 5 months and 19 days.

It should be noted that on 18 December, 2023, the court published the verdict by which the accused Armen Mikhail Grigoryan was found guilty under Article 329, Part 2, Clause 3 of the RA Criminal Code (Article 226 of the RA Criminal Code, which was in effect at the time of the act) in the crime provided for by clause 1 of part 2) and did not impose a punishment on the grounds that he was dead.

The verdict was appealed in the order of re-examination and on 15.03.2024 it was signed by the court (Presiding Judge: Sevak Hambardzumyan, Judges: M. Melkonyan and L. Hovhannisyan). The court session scheduled for 04.04.2024 was not held due to the participation of the Presiding Judge in the annual training course for judges at the RA Academy of Justice) and the next court session was scheduled for 05.08.2024.

It should also be emphasized that this study, as well as previous studies by the Judicial Department, concerned the observance of reasonable deadlines. However, taking into account that the “Hayastan” Faction also raised issues related to Armen Grigoryan’s health problems during his detention; we inform that the court did not know any facts about Armen Grigoryan’s health problems during the pre-trial and trial stages of the case investigation. No motion or any information was conveyed to the court at any stage.

Criminal case concerning the former head of Vanadzor Community Mamikon Aslanyan

Accusation

Mamiko Levush Aslanyan has been charged with the fact that he abused his official powers and deliberately went beyond the scope of his powers, occupying the position of the head of the Vanadzor community of Lori Marz of the RA in the period from 10 October, 2016 to 10 October, 2021. and committed official forgery.

The course of the case

On 26.05.2022 the criminal case was received in the in the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction of Lori region of the RA, it was assigned to Judge M. Arzumyanyan through the electronic system. Judge M. Arzumanyan appointed 2 sessions, 1 of which was not held and on 19.08.2022 made a decision to send the criminal case to trial. The criminal case was received in the Anti-Corruption Court on 01.09.2022 and assigned to judge S. Dadoyan.

This criminal case has been examined in the Anti-Corruption Court for about 1 year and 7 months, sessions were scheduled once every 17 days on average. Currently, the investigation of the case is at the stage of questioning witnesses.

3 defendants and 30 witnesses are subject to subpoena in the criminal case.

During the investigation of the case in the Anti-Corruption Court, 35 sessions were scheduled, of which 12 sessions were not held or were opened. So:

• Due to the judge, 5 sessions were not held (3 due to the judge’s illness, 1 due to the judge’s workload, and 1 due to the judge’s participation in the General Meeting of Judges), as a result of which the examination of the case was actually postponed for a period of 2 months and 8 days.
• 3 court hearings were opened, but were postponed due to the non-appearance of witnesses, as a result of which the investigation of the case was actually postponed for a period of 47 days.
• 2 court hearings were opened, but were postponed due to the absence of the accused S. Abovyan from the territory of the Republic of Armenia with the permission of the court, as a result of which the investigation of the case was actually postponed for a period of 20 days.
• 1 court session was not held due to the being of the accused Aslanyan in the medical center, as a result of which the investigation of the case was actually postponed for a period of 7 days.
• 1 court session was opened, but it was postponed due to the workload of the defenders, as a result of which the investigation of the case was actually postponed for a period of 7 days.

Thus, 3 months and 29 days were lost due to various reasons, and 3 months due to the change of judgment, a total of 6 months and 29 days.

Criminal case concerning Suren Manukyan and others

Accusation

4 persons (Suren Manukyan, Armen Kamalyan, Murad Muradyan and Tatul Poghosyan) were charged for kidnapping Grisha Kokobelyan in the Alaverdi community of Lori region on 27 July, 2022, taking him to a rented apartment and keeping there for 5 days. The kidnappers demanded from his son, Khachatur Kokobelyan, 3 million dollars as a ransom, they received 40,000 dollars in the form of cryptocurrency.

The course of the case

On 25.07.2023 the criminal case was received in the First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction of of Tavush marz and was assigned electronically to Judge Samvel Mardanyan on the same day.

On 31.07.2023 during the scheduled court session, Judge Samvel Mardanyan announced his self recusal.

On 01.08.2023 the criminal proceedings were assigned electronically to Judge Narek Badalyan, but due to the judge’s temporary sick leave, on 08.07.2023, the criminal case was entered into the “E-Court System” and the case was redistributed. On the same day, the criminal proceedings were assigned electronically to Judge Serzh Rushanyan.

After examining the case for about 5 months, Judge Rushanyan announced his self recusal, because during the investigation of the criminal case, the accused Suren Manukyan showed behavior, which was the basis for the initiation of criminal proceedings in the Tavush Regional Investigation Department of the RA Investigative Committee in relation to disrespecting the judge, publishing defamatory information about the judge, and judge Serzh Rushanyan was recognized as a victim. In the current situation, the judge submitted self recusal, taking into account the presence of conflict of personal interests with the accused Suren Manukyan and the fact that an objective and impartial observer could reasonably doubt the impartiality and biasness of the judge.

On 23.01.2024m there was a change in the composition of the court and the criminal case was assigned through the electronic system to Judge Sasun Mkhitaryan.

Thus, 13 court hearings were scheduled for this criminal proceeding, of which:

• 1 court session was appointed by Judge Samvel Mardanyan,
• 1 session was appointed by Judge Narek Badalyan,
• 8 sessions were appointed by Judge Serzh Rushanyan,
• 3 sessions were appointed by Judge Sasun Mkhitaryan.

Judge Serzh Rushanyan appointed court hearings on average once every 20 days, and judge Sasun Mkhitaryan once every 14 days.

In the proceedings of Sasun Mkhitaryan, the case was examined for about 2.5 months, during which 3 sessions were appointed and held.

Thus, this case was examined in the court for about 8.5 months, of which 5 months were “lost” due to disrespectful treatment against the judge and publication of defamatory information by the accused,” the message stated.