Armenian NGOs condemning Armenian authorities for using criminal  justice for punitive purposes

ArmInfo.  Several Armenian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have condemned the disproportionate and unlawful use of criminal justice for punitive purposes by the country's authorities,  accompanied by gross  violations of fundamental human rights, including the arrest of  prominent lawyer Alexander Kochubaev for a critical post on Facebook. 

According to a statement from the press service of the  "Journalists  for Human Rights" human rights NGO, which distributed the appeal from  several NGOs, the lawyer's arrest involved the use of  disproportionate force and the humiliation of his dignity. He was  then placed under arrest for two months. In this regard, human rights  organizations noted that this tool had been used previously, for  which the Armenian authorities had already been criticized by both  Armenian human rights organizations and international organizations.

NGOs also pointed out the use of criminal charges as a punitive  measure without legal basis as another violation of fundamental human  rights. Specifically, they mentioned the criminal prosecution and  imprisonment of Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan for statements that were  previously considered not criminally prosecutable.

The NGOs further underlined that the criminal prosecution of Samvel  Karapetyan, Russian businessman of Armenian descent, based on  his  statements  in support of the Armenian Apostolic Church, is also  concerning. In this regard, the statement noted that criminal cases  based on calls to seize power, including for social media posts, have  increased sharply since 2020. As another example, the statement cited  the arrest of Arsen Ghukasyan, the uncle of a missing serviceman from  the 44-day war. The NGOs expressed their belief that this was done  with the intention of suppressing criticism of the authorities by the  relatives of missing servicemen who are defending their legitimate  demands.

In light of this, they demanded that public authorities refrain from  exerting undue influence on the judiciary and law enforcement  systems. Specifically, they demanded that judges be guided  exclusively by the Constitution, international treaties, and laws  ratified by the Republic of Armenia, guaranteeing the protection of  human rights, and exercise due diligence when choosing preventive  measures. The statement was signed by the following organizations:   Protection of Rights Without Borders NGO,  Helsinki Citizens'  Assembly Vanadzor office,  Armenian Progressive Youth NGO,  Club of  Public Journalism NGO,  Center for Law and Freedom NGO,   Regional  Center for Democracy and Security,  Yerevan Press Club,  Helsinki  Association NGO, Journalists for Human Rights NGO and Mitk NGO.