HCA Vanadzor against the Police

Meanwhile an appeal to start disciplinary proceedings has been sent to the Board of Justice against the judge who made the decision.

Helsinki citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor has appealed to the RA Criminal Court of Appeals, demanding they reverse the decision of the Lori Region Court of Common Jurisdiction.  Lori Region Court of Common Jurisdiction presided over by Judge Marine Melkonyan, rejected HCAV’s appeal against the May 3, 2011 decision of Vaghinak Martirosyan, the investigator of Lori Region Investigative Division of the Main Investigation Bureau of the RA Police, to reject the initiation of the criminal case.

On February 15, 2011, around 5:00 p.m., the police closed a 1 km section on the Vanadzor-Yerevan road, stopping traffic for an hour, from the intersection of Vanadzor-Stepanavan towards the entry to Vanadzor.      

Artur Sakunts, the head of the human rights organization insists that Anubakh Hambaryan, Head of the Lori Region Police Department, Sergo Avetisyan, Head of Vanadzor Police Department, Meruzhan Karapetyan, former Commander of the 5th officer squadron of the 2nd officer battalion of the RA Traffic Police, and several police officers obstructed the entry to the city for the owners of vehicles with Georgian registration plates, drivers from Vanadzor and Gyumri, depriving them of their constitutional right of free movement and participation in peaceful assemblies, demonstrations, and marches. The head of the human rights organization adds that the investigative body did not consider several existing facts objectively during the preparation of the materials and based the decision to reject the initiation of the case only on the testimony of the police officers. ‘By deciding not to initiate a case, the investigative body illegally concealed or protected the violators transferring the blame onto the Autograder engine malfunction; however, there are recordings where you can clearly hear the sound of the engine,’ says Sakunts.

Despite that, the court qualified the actions of the police officers as lawful stating that they were directed towards ensuring the safety of the citizens and smooth flowing traffic. Arayik Zalyan, the lawyer of the organization, considered the decision ridiculous. Moreover, he argues that the decision is groundless and lacks any justification.

‘It is quite a meaningless decision and does not have any justification and conclusion. And an appeal to start disciplinary proceedings has been sent to the Board of Justice, against the judge who made the decision’ summarizes the lawyer.

Source: www.aravot.am