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CCAF France
Conseil de Coordination des Organisations Arméniennes de France
34, avenue de Champs Elysées - 75008 Paris (France)
<http://www.ccaf.info/> www.ccaf.info
e-mail: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]
Tél. : 01 43 59 65 19
The Statement of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organisations of
France (CCAF) on blatant violations of principles of the fair trial of
Vahagn Chakhalyan in Georgia
Paris,
October 13, 2009
On September 5, 2009 the Coordination Council of Armenian
Organisations of France mandated Mr Philippe Kalfayan (lawyer, expert
by the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Directorate of the Council of
Europe, and secretary general of the FIDH from 2001 to 2007) to
observe the ongoing trial of Vahagn Chakhalyan in the Court of Appeals
of Tbilisi (Georgia).
The president of the political movement `Democratic Alliance `United
Javakhk', Vahagn Chakhalyan, is one of the leaders of the Armenian
minority residing in Samtskhe-Javakheti province in Georgia. He was
arrested in his residence on July 21, 2008, and then jailed and put on
trial for alleged acquisition and possession of firearms, a charge
which he pleaded not-guilty. On April 7, 2009, he was sentenced by the
Akhalskha District Court to 10 years of imprisonment for `illegal
possession of firearms', but also for `participation in mass actions
disturbing the law and public order' and `hooliganism'.
>From a strictly legal point of view, both the observations, made
during the Court hearings on September 18, and the study of the
judicial documents reveal the violations of the principles of a fair
trial by the Georgian authorities, especially Vahagn Chakhalyan's
rights to defense:
- The accumulation of the criminal charges on the mass protest actions
of 2005 and 2006 surprisingly took place during the trial in the Court
of First Instance on December 3, 2008, due to a new law adopted in the
interval. That law authorizes the accumulation of charges and
application of relevant punishment and penalties, as long as the
criminal offences in question have not expired; the date of the
proceedings of the offences being taken as a reference. The
application of this new law in Chakhalyan's case, even if it seems
that the procedures have been met, clearly demonstrates the will of
the Georgian authorities to convict Chakhalyan of a serious crime and
keep him in jail for a longer term, because for the offence of
possession of weapon he could be sentenced to only one year
imprisonment.
- Until September 18, 2009, the date when the hearings of the Court of
Appeals were resumed, no examination of the weapons, hypothetically
belonging to Chakhalyan, was carried out. This time the Court's next
hearing was postponed to October 23, in anticipation of the
examination results.
- The Prosecutor refused the presence of independent experts and
defense lawyers to observe examination of the weapons; in this respect
a lawsuit was filed by Chakhalyan's lawyers to dispute this decision.
- The translation of the Court debates into Armenian has been
incomplete and of a very bad quality. As a result, both the accused
and his Armenian lawyer cannot follow the debates, thus, the equity of
the debates is grossly and openly ridiculed. This implies a violation
of Article 6 (paragraph 3e) of the European Convention of the Human
rights.
- The refusal of the Court of First Instance to allow the accused or
his lawyers to summon and interrogate some of the witnesses of
prosecution, is an obvious violation of Article 6 (paragraph 3d) of
the European Convention of the Human rights; It is also a violation of
Article 42 (paragraph 6) of the Georgian Constitution. The Court of
Appeal did not reconsider this refusal and justified its rejection of
the motions lodged by the Armenian lawyers by claiming that no motion
had been filed in the Court of First
Instance;
- The refusal of the Georgian Ministry of Justice, that drafted and
made the Georgian Parliament ratify urgently a legislative amendment
prohibiting access of foreign lawyers to the Georgian courts, and the
subsequent refusal to register Chakhalyan's French lawyer, is another
blatant violation of Article 6 (paragraph 3c) of the European
Convention of Human rights, as well as Article 42 of Georgian
Constitution. Lawsuit to the Constitutional Court of Georgia will be
lodged without delay by one of Chakhalyan's lawyers.
The Coordination Council of Armenian Organisations of France questions
the motives that lay behind the willingness of the Georgian
authorities to violate in such a blatant and targeted manner the
rights of Vahagn Chakhalyan to a fair trial and to infringe the
international engagements of the Republic of Georgia.
Reports of Human Rights NGOs, as well as institutional organizations
such as ABA (American Bar Association) stress an overall deficiency of
the judicial system in Georgia and the unlimited influence of the
Prosecution, in other words, of the dominance of the Executive
power. However, this general situation could not exonerate from the
judicial relentlessness of the Georgian authorities against Vahagn
Chakhalyan.
The Coordination Council of Armenian Organisations of France
legitimately raises the question of the correlation between the
demands of Vahagn Chakhalyan concerning the linguistic, religious,
socio-cultural and educational rights of the Armenian minority of
Samtskhe-Javakheti of Georgia and his judicial pursuit: is there an
intention to fully neutralize Chakhalyan, through conviction of the
latter, eliminating any spirit of demand for the respect of the rights
of the Armenian population of Samtskhe-Javakheti?
Consequently, Coordination Council of Armenian organisations of France
call upon the Georgian authorities:
- To put an end to this unfair lawsuit, and to restore all the rights
of Vahagn Chakhalyan;
- To abolish anti-constitutional law forbidding foreign lawyers to
defend their clients in the Georgian courts;
- To respect the legal obligations inherent to international
engagements of the Republic of Georgia, in particular the
International Pact on the Civil and Political Rights and the European
Convention of Human rights, two instruments to which the Georgian
State is a party, and whose normative primacy is recognized by article
6 of the Georgian Constitution;
- To give a special consideration and respect to all the provisions of
Article 6 of the European Convention of Human rights, that provides
that any person is entitled to a fair and public hearing of his case
by an independent and impartial tribunal establishing equality between
the prosecution and defense.
Conseil de Coordination des Organisations Arméniennes de France
34, avenue de Champs Elysées - 75008 Paris (France)
<http://www.ccaf.info/> www.ccaf.info
e-mail: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]
Tél. : 01 43 59 65 19
The Statement of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organisations of
France (CCAF) on blatant violations of principles of the fair trial of
Vahagn Chakhalyan in Georgia
Paris,
October 13, 2009
On September 5, 2009 the Coordination Council of Armenian
Organisations of France mandated Mr Philippe Kalfayan (lawyer, expert
by the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Directorate of the Council of
Europe, and secretary general of the FIDH from 2001 to 2007) to
observe the ongoing trial of Vahagn Chakhalyan in the Court of Appeals
of Tbilisi (Georgia).
The president of the political movement `Democratic Alliance `United
Javakhk', Vahagn Chakhalyan, is one of the leaders of the Armenian
minority residing in Samtskhe-Javakheti province in Georgia. He was
arrested in his residence on July 21, 2008, and then jailed and put on
trial for alleged acquisition and possession of firearms, a charge
which he pleaded not-guilty. On April 7, 2009, he was sentenced by the
Akhalskha District Court to 10 years of imprisonment for `illegal
possession of firearms', but also for `participation in mass actions
disturbing the law and public order' and `hooliganism'.
>From a strictly legal point of view, both the observations, made
during the Court hearings on September 18, and the study of the
judicial documents reveal the violations of the principles of a fair
trial by the Georgian authorities, especially Vahagn Chakhalyan's
rights to defense:
- The accumulation of the criminal charges on the mass protest actions
of 2005 and 2006 surprisingly took place during the trial in the Court
of First Instance on December 3, 2008, due to a new law adopted in the
interval. That law authorizes the accumulation of charges and
application of relevant punishment and penalties, as long as the
criminal offences in question have not expired; the date of the
proceedings of the offences being taken as a reference. The
application of this new law in Chakhalyan's case, even if it seems
that the procedures have been met, clearly demonstrates the will of
the Georgian authorities to convict Chakhalyan of a serious crime and
keep him in jail for a longer term, because for the offence of
possession of weapon he could be sentenced to only one year
imprisonment.
- Until September 18, 2009, the date when the hearings of the Court of
Appeals were resumed, no examination of the weapons, hypothetically
belonging to Chakhalyan, was carried out. This time the Court's next
hearing was postponed to October 23, in anticipation of the
examination results.
- The Prosecutor refused the presence of independent experts and
defense lawyers to observe examination of the weapons; in this respect
a lawsuit was filed by Chakhalyan's lawyers to dispute this decision.
- The translation of the Court debates into Armenian has been
incomplete and of a very bad quality. As a result, both the accused
and his Armenian lawyer cannot follow the debates, thus, the equity of
the debates is grossly and openly ridiculed. This implies a violation
of Article 6 (paragraph 3e) of the European Convention of the Human
rights.
- The refusal of the Court of First Instance to allow the accused or
his lawyers to summon and interrogate some of the witnesses of
prosecution, is an obvious violation of Article 6 (paragraph 3d) of
the European Convention of the Human rights; It is also a violation of
Article 42 (paragraph 6) of the Georgian Constitution. The Court of
Appeal did not reconsider this refusal and justified its rejection of
the motions lodged by the Armenian lawyers by claiming that no motion
had been filed in the Court of First
Instance;
- The refusal of the Georgian Ministry of Justice, that drafted and
made the Georgian Parliament ratify urgently a legislative amendment
prohibiting access of foreign lawyers to the Georgian courts, and the
subsequent refusal to register Chakhalyan's French lawyer, is another
blatant violation of Article 6 (paragraph 3c) of the European
Convention of Human rights, as well as Article 42 of Georgian
Constitution. Lawsuit to the Constitutional Court of Georgia will be
lodged without delay by one of Chakhalyan's lawyers.
The Coordination Council of Armenian Organisations of France questions
the motives that lay behind the willingness of the Georgian
authorities to violate in such a blatant and targeted manner the
rights of Vahagn Chakhalyan to a fair trial and to infringe the
international engagements of the Republic of Georgia.
Reports of Human Rights NGOs, as well as institutional organizations
such as ABA (American Bar Association) stress an overall deficiency of
the judicial system in Georgia and the unlimited influence of the
Prosecution, in other words, of the dominance of the Executive
power. However, this general situation could not exonerate from the
judicial relentlessness of the Georgian authorities against Vahagn
Chakhalyan.
The Coordination Council of Armenian Organisations of France
legitimately raises the question of the correlation between the
demands of Vahagn Chakhalyan concerning the linguistic, religious,
socio-cultural and educational rights of the Armenian minority of
Samtskhe-Javakheti of Georgia and his judicial pursuit: is there an
intention to fully neutralize Chakhalyan, through conviction of the
latter, eliminating any spirit of demand for the respect of the rights
of the Armenian population of Samtskhe-Javakheti?
Consequently, Coordination Council of Armenian organisations of France
call upon the Georgian authorities:
- To put an end to this unfair lawsuit, and to restore all the rights
of Vahagn Chakhalyan;
- To abolish anti-constitutional law forbidding foreign lawyers to
defend their clients in the Georgian courts;
- To respect the legal obligations inherent to international
engagements of the Republic of Georgia, in particular the
International Pact on the Civil and Political Rights and the European
Convention of Human rights, two instruments to which the Georgian
State is a party, and whose normative primacy is recognized by article
6 of the Georgian Constitution;
- To give a special consideration and respect to all the provisions of
Article 6 of the European Convention of Human rights, that provides
that any person is entitled to a fair and public hearing of his case
by an independent and impartial tribunal establishing equality between
the prosecution and defense.