Can we say that the courts in Armenia have become independent within two months, and the judges, who were called “slaves of Serzh Sargsyan” on Facebook till April 23, radically reformed and became builders of New Armenia? Changing the detention as preventive measure against the citizens who attacked the police regiment is in the visible field for the public. Is this enough to claim that the courts are independent? Of course, they do not receive calls from Baghramyan 26 anymore, but government’s ally faction MPs submit a petition to change the preventive measure, and the judges satisfy that. Does it indicate that they have become independent or that they have sensed the change of political winds and changed their direction? Earlier they were directly just told to imprison someone and they were obliging, now they are indirectly hinted to release someone through the MP allies, and they again oblige.
Now let us make an attempt to assume that the Republican faction MPs submit a petition to change the preventive measure against Manvel Grigoryan. I am sure that the general has violated many laws, but I do not doubt that his illnesses are real. This petition will most likely be rejected, based on numerous grounds. Most of the readers of these lines will say, “How can we compare the stealer of canned meat with the rescuers of the nation rebelled against dictatorship?”. But these are emotional propaganda and political characteristics, with which one can agree or argue, those have nothing to do with judges’ independence, judges should act according to the law.
But the politically significant cases make up roughly one percent of the judges’ work. Our media do not refer to the decisions on criminal or civil cases that are not related to famous people. After all, calling or submitting petitions for “political” cases was the cost to give “freedom” to judges for other cases. That “freedom” in Armenia meant being involved in corruption schemes. Has all of these disappeared within two months?
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
