The corrupt get positions in anti-corruption bodies. Daniel Ioannisyan’s speech at the HDIM meetings of the OSCE participating countries

The Human Dimension Meetings of the OSCE ODIHR are taking place in Warsaw these days.

Today, on October 4, Daniel Ioannisyan, program Coordinator at Union of Informed Citizens NGO, referred to the issues related to the judiciary in Armenia, particularly highlighting the controversial appointments in high-ranking positions.

«Thank you, madame moderator,

Independent judiciary is the most important component of democratic society. Right to a fair trial should be respected for everyone.

But unfortunately, that is not the case with Azerbaijan, where dozens of Armenian prisoners of war, instead of being returned to Armenia as is set out in respected international conventions, are being prosecuted based on false charges.

However, these have been theater performances imitating trials, as the defendants could not hire the lawyers they wanted and did not even have an interpreter to understand what was happening in the courtroom.

This, as you can see, has nothing to do with the right to a fair trial or independence of the judiciary. The courts have turned into a theater to ensure that the prisoners of war are not returned and are used as a lever of pressure on Armenia.

Since I predict that the representatives of Azerbaijan will try to say that the same thing is being done in Armenia, let me make it clear that it is not true. In Armenia, only those Azerbaijanis who crossed the border during peacetime and killed civilians were convicted. Moreover, even those murderers have been returned to Azerbaijan.

But I would also like to talk about the problems of the judiciary in Armenia. Unfortunately, the authorities have failed to create a truly independent judiciary.

One of the main indicators of the independence of the judicial system is the percentage of pre-trial detention motions granted by coarts, which has been steadily increasing in recent years.

One of the significant problems recorded is also the fact that very often people regarding whom the Corruption Prevention Commission has issued a negative integrity conclusion are appointed as judges.

The most remarkable is the case of the newly appointed head of the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction, who for many years had been the face of political persecution in Armenia and against whom there are ECHR judgements on violating the right to a fair trial. It is ironic that there is a decision of the ECHR on the violation of the right to a fair trial by this judge of the current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

I would also like to point out that the appointment of the head of the Anti-Corruption Court is also problematic, as he was previously exposed by law enforcement agencies for a corrupt act.

Thank you».

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