Gagik Khachatryan’s legal team has filed a request for urgent interim measures with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The legal team requested from the European Court to immediately instruct the Government of Armenia to release him from detention and ensure that he had access to the medical institution in Germany that has already confirmed its medical commitment to perform the planned surgery. Mr. Khachatryan has been detained since 2 September and, despite being unable to move independently, remains in custody at the Yerevan-Kentron Penitentiary Institution. The request to arrange a medical examination received no response to date.
Proceedings before the ECHR began in 2019 with a complaint under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment. In 2020, the Court granted an interim measure, requiring the Armenian Government to ensure that Khachatryan had access to the requisite and specialised medical care and treatment under detention or be transferred to a civilian hospital. As a result, he was immediately released from detention in October 2020. In 2024, a further complaint was lodged under Article 2 of the Convention under right to a life which was communicated in a short period to the Government of Armenia by the Court. Currently, the Court examines both claims jointly.
Gagik Khachatryan, a former Armenian Minister of Finance and former Chairman of the State Revenue Committee, has been a defendant in several criminal proceedings since 2019, including a case involving allegations of accepting a particularly large bribe. He denies the charges, and no final judgment has been delivered in any of the cases. During the seven-year proceedings, his health has steadily deteriorated, while his treatment has largely been limited to symptomatic care.
Khachatryan was diagnosed with spinal stenosis in 2015. According to his legal team, an implant in his cervical spine has shifted, causing acute pain with any movement. He also has diabetes, shoulder-joint conditions and heart problems. Armenia’s Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has assessed him as having a severe degree of functional limitation – 66 per cent – and recognised him as a person with a disability. He is no longer able to move independently. The need for surgery has been documented over the years through medical examinations and the findings of more than a dozen Armenian and foreign medical panels.
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Khachatryan has been permitted to travel abroad for medical treatment on several occasions. He returned within the authorised period each time, did not obstruct the proceedings, and no court hearing was postponed on health grounds during that period. However, he has repeatedly been prevented from travelling for the surgery he requires. In April 2025, a court again authorised him to travel to Germany, but an exit ban was imposed immediately afterwards within a separate criminal proceeding by which his exit from the country was prevented. As a result, it’s been already 7 years that he’s been deprived of the opportunity to undergo the required surgery and this time and of the ability to move independently in detention.
A carer was provided following the Human Rights Defender’s intervention, but the underlying issue remains unresolved
Acting on the instructions of Armenia’s Human Rights Defender, a team from the Defender’s Office visited the penitentiary institution. The representatives met Khachatryan in private and examined matters relating to his medical care, personal assistance and conditions of detention. According to the Defender’s Office, the concerns raised have been referred to the competent authorities and some are being addressed. Khachatryan’s legal team said that, following the intervention, a carer had been provided for him at the penitentiary institution.
“We thank the Human Rights Defender and the human rights community for their prompt response. That response had a practical effect: a carer was provided for Gagik Khachatryan. However, the risks to his life and health have not been eliminated. A timely and sustained response can prevent irreversible consequences and, in cases such as this, save a life,” the legal team said.
Human rights advocates warn of a dangerous precedent
The previous day, Khachatryan’s legal team released footage of his transfer and attendance at a court hearing for the first time. The lawyers said they had previously refrained from making his medical condition public out of respect for his and his family’s privacy. They decided to release the footage only after the available domestic legal remedies had been exhausted.
The footage prompted widespread public concern. Lilit Galstyan, Chair of the Armenian National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs, described the treatment as torture and as inhuman and degrading, stressing that it could not be justified by any objective of criminal prosecution.
The Disability Rights Agenda NGO said Khachatryan had been transferred in unsuitable conditions and subjected to evident physical suffering. The organisation called for medical supervision, professional assistance and reasonable accommodations reflecting his health and functional needs.
Human rights advocate Vardan Harutyunyan said that justice did not entail humiliation, ill-treatment or retribution. Zhanna Aleksanyan, President of the Journalists for Human Rights NGO, described the footage as showing “sadism without limits”.
Without engaging with the comments made, we present the legal community with the deterioration in Gagik Khachatryan’s health, as documented in publicly available sources. The photographs show Khachatryan in 2014, when he was appointed Minister of Finance; in 2024, in a wheelchair; and in 2026, on a stretcher. Following his detention in 2019–2020, he attended court hearings first with a walking stick and later in a wheelchair. He is now 71 years old.