Because of judicial error I have lost what one cannot return (video)
77-year-old Artak Gabrielyan in 2004 for distributing leaflets and voicing political calls appeared in prison and only after fighting in the courts for 8 years he reached justice in the European Court: he was acquitted. He is sure that the Armenian courts deprived him of freedom by passing illegal verdicts. “They couldn’t prove that I had made calls to overthrow the authorities, witnesses involved in the case didn’t turn up in the court. After fighting for 8 years in different courts the European Court passed a verdict according to which there had been a judicial error and I was acquitted,” notes Mr. Gabrielyan. He says that during these years he has lost what cannot be returned for any money. “Even if they give me million dollars, they cannot compensate it, human suffering, emotional distress cannot be compensated. The decision-maker must feel all this in order to understand,” he says. Human rights defender Avetik Ishkhanyan notes in the interview with “A1+” that judicial errors occur even in developed democratic countries. By examining the field he came to a conclusion that unlike those countries judicial errors aren’t accepted in Armenia. “There are big chances to correct judicial errors with new circumstances, by keeping material evidence, rehabilitation… Armenia lacks all this,” thinks human rights defender. Ishkhanyan doesn’t remember a case of releasing citizens because of judicial errors. He sees the solution of the issue beyond the legal field. “Armenian authorities didn’t have a willpower to create such a system, constitution and legislation so that the court would be free,” thinks Avetik Ishkhanyan. To add, Armenia is the first in Europe with the number of life prisoners.
