Presentation of the report on “Behind the wall: The right to fair trial in the cases of “Sasna Tsrer”

On March 19 of 2018, the presentation of the report on “Behind the wall: The right to fair trial in the cases of “Sasna Tsrer”” elaborated by the Civic Solidarity Platform (www.civicsolidarity.org), which had a fact finding mission in Armenia, took place in “Nairi” hall of Ani Plaza hotel.

The report summarizes the outcomes of the facts finding mission conducted by the Civic Solidarity Platform within the scope of International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR, www.iphronline.org).

The  NGOs “Protection of Rights without Borders” and “Helsinki Association” supported the elaboration of the report.

The violations against the accused, the sanctions applied towards the advocates during the trail of “Sasna Tsrer” armed group, as well as the hindrance cases of the advocates access to the court building were presented in the report. The report was presented by Zoanna Smetek, the Head of the Research Department of the Helsinki Human Rights Foundation.

Araks Melkonyam, the legal expert of the “Protection of Rights without Borders” also participated in event.

During her remarks, Araks Melkonyan mentioned that the searches were conducted selectively. As stated by A. Melkonyan, the searches were conducted only during the trails of the cases of “Sasna Tsrer” armed group. At the same time, the trail sanctions against the advocates and the disciplinary proceedings in that regard essentially affect the efficiency of the protection by the advocates, since in addition to the protection of the defendants, they had to implement their protection during the disciplinary sanctioning process. This is essentially considered a persecution against the advocates involved in the cases of “Sasna Tsrer” and is intended to alienate the latter from the trail.

The representatives of foreign diplomatic missions in Armenia, international and human rights organizations, as well as advocates, journalists and advocates participated in the event.

It should be mentioned, that the fact finding mission in Yerevan took place within the period of September 3-9 aiming at the examination of the facts regarding the obstacles faced by the advocates involved in the cases of “Sasna Tsrer”. The delegates of the mission have conducted 45 interviews with 33 advocates, international organizations, activists, journalists, Chamber of Advocates, as well as with the representatives Armenian authorities.