ArmInfo. The Court of Cassation replied to Prosecutor General's Advisor Gor Abrahamyan regarding its "belated decision" in the case of Masis Mayor David Hambartsumyan.
The statement recalls that on August 29, Abrahamyan posted a message on his Facebook page that "The Court of Cassation belatedly recognized the arguments of the Prosecutor General's Office about the inadmissibility of using bail against Masis Mayor David Hambartsumyan as an alternative measure of restraint."
"Regarding the judgment on the recognition of the arguments of the Prosecutor General's Office as justified <with delay>, it should be noted that during the pre-trial proceedings the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation in relation to David Hambartsumyan as well as the accused in the same case Gor Hambartsumyan, Karen Ohanyan, Armenak Hakobyan, Gor Khachatryan, accepted the complaint of the RA Deputy Prosecutor General regarding the legality of the application of a preventive measure for reasons of implementing the constitutional function of ensuring the uniform application of the law," the statement reads. At the same time, it is noted that in the case of Gor Hambartsumyan, the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, taking into account a number of factors (including the criteria enshrined in international legal documents, and legislative regulations of a number of foreign countries), on April 12, 2009, applied to the Constitutional Court with a request to determine the issue of compliance with the RA Constitution with criminal procedural norms that threaten the fundamental right of human freedom. As a result, the Constitutional Court on October 15, 2019, by its decision, satisfied the application of the Court of Cassation, recognizing the contested criminal procedure provisions as contrary to the RA Constitution.
"It is important to state that the discussion of the cassation complaints presented in the case of both David Hambartsumyan and Gor Hambartsumyan became possible only after the above decision was made. Meanwhile, the criminal case against David and Gor Hambartsumyan, even before that, that is, on June 14, 2019, was sent to the court of first instance for consideration on the merits. Thus, prior to the consideration by the Constitutional Court of the above-mentioned statement of the Court of Cassation, the pre-trial proceedings in the criminal case had already been completed. Consequently, the decision of the Cassation Court of the Cassation Court on David Hambartsumyan within the framework of the pre-trial proceedings in this case could not lead to any legal consequences not because of the "delay" in the decision of the Cassation Court or its sending to the parties with a completion of pre-trial proceedings in this case before the Constitutional Court makes an appropriate decision and adopts a new decision on the preventive measure against the accused.
To note, the decisions of the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation in the case of both David Hambartsumyan and Gore Hambartsumyan have a fundamental precedent from the point of view of ensuring the principle of the presumption of individual freedom, ensuring the unity of judicial practice. Within the framework of the established case law, the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation in the aforementioned cases stated that, on the basis of the application of a conditional preventive measure, an application for bail, with reference exclusively to legislative regulations, cannot automatically be rejected without turning it into a subject of consideration on the merits, which is also unacceptable with the point of view of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.
At the same time, the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation stated that, as an alternative, bail should be seen as an effective way to counterbalance any risk of misconduct by the accused, making it possible to ensure a fair balance between the right to liberty and the public interest in a proper investigation of a case involving the accused>, the statement emphasized.
As Adviser to the Prosecutor General Gor Abrahamyan previously reported , the Court of Cassation considered the arguments of the Prosecutor General's Office expressed in the cassation appeal on the inadmissibility of using bail against the mayor of Masis David Hambartsumyan as an alternative measure of restraint. On December 6, 2018, the RA Prosecutor General's Office filed a cassation appeal in connection with the replacement of the preventive measure from arrest to bail against Mayor Hambartsumyan, who was charged in the criminal case on the riots that took place during the velvet revolution in the administrative district of Erebuni, Yerevan, and also cases of hooliganism with the use of weapons at the crossroads of the villages of Hayanist-Hovtashat, Ararat region. In addition, the cassation appeal also concerned the rejection by the Court of Appeal of the complaint of the Prosecutor General's Office regarding the decision of the court of first instance of general jurisdiction to replace Hambartsumian's preventive measure. Meanwhile, since the Court of Cassation adopted the above decision during the period when the criminal case had already been in court for a long time, it, therefore, has no legal consequences in terms of changing the preventive measure of Hambartsumyan.
To recall, in the above-mentioned criminal case David Hambartsumyan was charged under parts 1 and 2 of Article 225, part 4 of Article 258 of the RA Criminal Code. Subsequently, the acts incriminated to him were reclassified, he was charged under Part 4 of Article 258 of the RA Criminal Code, and the criminal case, with the accusation of 8 persons, is currently at the stage of trial.