Hranush Kharatyan: Judicial system needs to be amended
The judicial system in Armenia needs to be amended, says ethnographer Hranush Kharatyan. “As long as we have dependent courts in the country, their judgments will remain questionable. As an ordinary citizen I question all their decisions as I find that courts do not examine cases objectively,” she said. As an example Ms. Kharatyan cited the controversial Harsnakar case when Vahe Avetyan, head of ENT (ear-nose-throat) department at the Defense Ministry’s Yerevan garrison hospital, died after being subjected to violent beating at Harsnakar Restaurant owned by former MP, tycoon Ruben Hayrapetyan. Six employees of the restaurant – Garik Margaryan, Arman Khachatryan, Davit Adamyan, Artur Babloyan, Arman Baghdasaryan and Norayr Hayrapetyan have appeared at the bar and face up to 13 years’ imprisonment. “These guys really committeed a heavy and sadistic crime, it is obvious that they are really dangerous for the society. On the other hand, their cynical behaviour and words ‘What I have done? Let me return to my family’ comes to prove that they are dangerous people,” says the ethnographer. She says the defendants do not sense the gravity of their actions; they do not value human life. Ms. Kharatyan is hopeful that the court will make a fair judgment, and the real culprits will be brought to justice.
