ArmInfo.Recently, lawyers in Armenia have been subjected to an unreasonable and humiliating search, this attitude to human rights defenders is unacceptable, there has never been a similar precedent in any country in the world. This was stated at the press conference by the lawyer Yervand Varosyan, speaking about the upcoming strike of human rights defenders on September 13, which was joined by over 180 people.
Speaking about the list of "forbidden things" adopted by the Council of Court Chairmen on the eve of entering the courtroom, Varosyan called it ridiculous. "This decision makes the law enforcement system of the RA subject to ridicule, since no lawyer has ever come to court with an aquarium or knitting needles," he said.
Meanwhile, the opposite viewpoint is held by Ara Zohrabyan, chairperson of the Chamber of Advocates, elected recently, despite the protests of the defenders. He said that he did not join the strike, because he believes that lawyers are not searched, but "inspected". In addition, he noted that in addition to the strike, there are other ways of resolving this issue, in particular, one can appeal to the Investigative Committee of Armenia.
In turn, lawyer Lusine Sahakyan told ArmInfo correspondent that the strike is only the first step in protest against "illegal searches" of lawyers. "Subsequently, lawyers will continue to defend their rights by appealing to international organizations, since there is no hope for our system of justice," she noted. According to her, already 40 international organizations sent their representatives and were convinced that the rights of lawyers in Armenia were violated.
To note, today 180 lawyers of Armenia announced a strike in protest against searches of defenders to court sessions and meetings with defendants.