The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has published its decision recognizing as illegal the dispersal of the “Electric Yerevan” movement protest in summer 2015 and the detention of public figure and activist Hovhannes Ishkhanyan. According to Iravaban.net, the court found a violation of Article 5, Paragraph 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which states: “Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person.”
According to the decision, Armenia must pay Hovhannes Ishkhanyan 4,600 euros as compensation for non-material damage, and an additional 1,500 euros as compensation for legal costs.
It should be noted that on May 8, 2015, “Electric Networks of Armenia” (ENA) CJSC submitted an application to the Public Services Regulatory Commission requesting permission to increase the electricity tariff by 17 drams per kWh. On June 17, the PSRC decided to increase the electricity tariff by 6.93 drams starting August 1.
From June 19, 2015, the “No to Plunder” civic initiative organized protests in Yerevan’s Freedom Square. The protesters gave the authorities 72 hours to suspend the PSRC decision.
The ECHR decision in “Ishkhanyan v. Armenia” emphasizes that keeping the public figure at the police station for 7 hours in wet clothes and without rest is equivalent to deprivation of liberty. The Court also found that there were no grounds for arrest:
“…After the sit-in was dispersed on June 23, 2015, between 5:00-5:30 AM, the applicant was arrested near the sit-in location and taken to the Shengavit Police Station on suspicion of hooliganism. At the police station, he was interrogated as a witness and subjected to two types of testing – alcohol and drugs. The applicant indicated that he was only released at 13:30, and throughout his time at the police station, he remained in wet clothes and was left without food or rest opportunities. He requested the SIS to hold those responsible accountable and investigate the legality and proportionality of police actions during the protest dispersal, including the necessity of using ‘special means.'”
The ECHR judgment emphasizes that during the “Electric Yerevan” protest, arrests were carried out en masse – without individual assessment of the criminality of actions and without reasonable suspicion of crime.
The Court concluded that the applicant was a victim of mass arrest without any individual assessment of criminality in his actions. The only official documents regarding his detention show different legal grounds and contain no detailed information about the actual actions attributed to the applicant.
“…Therefore, it cannot be said that the applicant’s arrest was based on reasonable suspicion of having committed a crime. Moreover, his placement under police guard did not follow the procedure established by law, as while he was de facto a criminal suspect (and therefore an arrested person under domestic law), no arrest protocol was drawn up regarding his detention,” the ECHR decision states.
