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WHAT TYPES OF LEGAL VIOLATIONS EXIST IN RELATION TO THE GYUMRI MURDER CASE
01.26.2015 13:19 epress.am
If the Prosecutor General of Armenia Gevorg Kostanyan stated that
the suspect in the murder of the 7 members of the Avetisyan family
Valery Permyakov will be subject to criminal liability on Armenian
territory, then does that mean that the court decision related to the
case would convene at an Armenian court. The latter issue was raised
by lawyerHarutyun Baghdasaryan in an interview with Epress.am.
Baghdasaryan stressed that otherwise it would be considered a violation
of the Armenian constitution.
The lawyer cited the 91st article of the RA Constitution which states
that "In the Republic of Armenia justice shall be administered solely
by the courts in accordance with the Constitution and the laws. The
final acts of the court shall be adopted in the name of the Republic
of Armenia."
The Constitution's 92nd article defines which courts function on
territory of the Republic of Armenia: the Court of First Instance,
Court of Cassation, and Court of Appeals, while the law also specifies
specialized courts. The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia states
that establishing emergency tribunals is forbidden.
"Furthermore, articles 1 and 3 of the Criminal Judicial Code notes that
the definitive decision for events that take place on the territory of
the Republic of Armenia are to be tried in the Republic of Armenia's
courts. While the 14th article of the Armenia's criminal code clearly
defines that an individual who commits a crime on RA territory is
subject to liability of the RA criminal code. And it isn't to be
forgotten that according to the 19th article of the RA criminal code,
that trials taking place in RA are conducted in Armenian language. In
fact, in relations to the Gyumri murder incidents, the Constitution
and judicial codes claims that trials taking place on RA territory
must only be implemented by a RA court," said Harutyun Baghdasaryan.
The latter recalled that according to the 4th article of the August 29,
1997 agreement between Armenia and Russia, those Russian military base
members who commit crimes outside the military base are subject to
be investigated by Armenian law enforcement, while the 5th article
states that the Russian Federation investigates crimes that take
place in Russian military installations.
"However the 5th article of the agreement is also problematic and the
Constitutional Court must also deal with that and re-examine the issue
of the agreement's constitutionality. The military base's territory
is rented out by the Russian Federation, and that doesn't mean that
that territory falls outside of the Republic of Armenia. The latter
is confirmed by the 31st article of the Constitution, which notes
that foreigners do not benefit from private land rights. In fact,
the 5th point of the article states that crimes that occur must be
investigated by the Armenian law enforcement and by Armenian courts,"
noted Baghdasaryan.
In relations to the Gyumri incidents, Baghdasaryan believes it is
important to stress the National Security Service's (NSS) role or lack
there of. The latter importance is in regards to Valery Permyakov's
attempt of crossing the Armenian-Turkish border, where he was supposed
to be subject to investigation by the NSS.
"If we, citizens of the Republic of Armenia, went to the border,
were located, threatened to be shot, and laid on the ground
(like Permyakov), would we have also been taken to the Russian
military base? The border guards are required to hand over the
suspect of crossing the border to the Armenian National Security
Service. Or how did they know exactly that the person was Permyakov,
who essentially had no personal identification on him. He could have
been an Argentinian," said Baghdasaryan.
According to him, territorial jurisdiction and responsibility exists
on Armenian territory and it is not conditioned by the individual's
residency or citizenship. The lawyer raised the issue of whether
the NSS opened a case against the attempt of illegally crossing the
border because judicial law (190 article) reserves that right to
NSS investigators.
"This is a fundamental issue. Maybe they did open a case, but they
haven't stated it. While if they haven't opened a case, then the
criminal code's article 329.3 about illegally crossing the state border
needs to be implemented; "this Article is not extended to cases when a
foreign citizen or stateless person enters the Republic of Armenia to
enjoy the right for political asylum stipulated by the Constitution
of the Republic of Armenia." Basically, if the NSS hasn't opened a
criminal case, then it means that Permyakov has appealed for political
asylum," said the lawyer.
http://www.epress.am/en/2015/01/26/what-types-of-legal-violations-exist-in-relation-to-the-gyumri-murder-case.html
From: A. Papazian
01.26.2015 13:19 epress.am
If the Prosecutor General of Armenia Gevorg Kostanyan stated that
the suspect in the murder of the 7 members of the Avetisyan family
Valery Permyakov will be subject to criminal liability on Armenian
territory, then does that mean that the court decision related to the
case would convene at an Armenian court. The latter issue was raised
by lawyerHarutyun Baghdasaryan in an interview with Epress.am.
Baghdasaryan stressed that otherwise it would be considered a violation
of the Armenian constitution.
The lawyer cited the 91st article of the RA Constitution which states
that "In the Republic of Armenia justice shall be administered solely
by the courts in accordance with the Constitution and the laws. The
final acts of the court shall be adopted in the name of the Republic
of Armenia."
The Constitution's 92nd article defines which courts function on
territory of the Republic of Armenia: the Court of First Instance,
Court of Cassation, and Court of Appeals, while the law also specifies
specialized courts. The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia states
that establishing emergency tribunals is forbidden.
"Furthermore, articles 1 and 3 of the Criminal Judicial Code notes that
the definitive decision for events that take place on the territory of
the Republic of Armenia are to be tried in the Republic of Armenia's
courts. While the 14th article of the Armenia's criminal code clearly
defines that an individual who commits a crime on RA territory is
subject to liability of the RA criminal code. And it isn't to be
forgotten that according to the 19th article of the RA criminal code,
that trials taking place in RA are conducted in Armenian language. In
fact, in relations to the Gyumri murder incidents, the Constitution
and judicial codes claims that trials taking place on RA territory
must only be implemented by a RA court," said Harutyun Baghdasaryan.
The latter recalled that according to the 4th article of the August 29,
1997 agreement between Armenia and Russia, those Russian military base
members who commit crimes outside the military base are subject to
be investigated by Armenian law enforcement, while the 5th article
states that the Russian Federation investigates crimes that take
place in Russian military installations.
"However the 5th article of the agreement is also problematic and the
Constitutional Court must also deal with that and re-examine the issue
of the agreement's constitutionality. The military base's territory
is rented out by the Russian Federation, and that doesn't mean that
that territory falls outside of the Republic of Armenia. The latter
is confirmed by the 31st article of the Constitution, which notes
that foreigners do not benefit from private land rights. In fact,
the 5th point of the article states that crimes that occur must be
investigated by the Armenian law enforcement and by Armenian courts,"
noted Baghdasaryan.
In relations to the Gyumri incidents, Baghdasaryan believes it is
important to stress the National Security Service's (NSS) role or lack
there of. The latter importance is in regards to Valery Permyakov's
attempt of crossing the Armenian-Turkish border, where he was supposed
to be subject to investigation by the NSS.
"If we, citizens of the Republic of Armenia, went to the border,
were located, threatened to be shot, and laid on the ground
(like Permyakov), would we have also been taken to the Russian
military base? The border guards are required to hand over the
suspect of crossing the border to the Armenian National Security
Service. Or how did they know exactly that the person was Permyakov,
who essentially had no personal identification on him. He could have
been an Argentinian," said Baghdasaryan.
According to him, territorial jurisdiction and responsibility exists
on Armenian territory and it is not conditioned by the individual's
residency or citizenship. The lawyer raised the issue of whether
the NSS opened a case against the attempt of illegally crossing the
border because judicial law (190 article) reserves that right to
NSS investigators.
"This is a fundamental issue. Maybe they did open a case, but they
haven't stated it. While if they haven't opened a case, then the
criminal code's article 329.3 about illegally crossing the state border
needs to be implemented; "this Article is not extended to cases when a
foreign citizen or stateless person enters the Republic of Armenia to
enjoy the right for political asylum stipulated by the Constitution
of the Republic of Armenia." Basically, if the NSS hasn't opened a
criminal case, then it means that Permyakov has appealed for political
asylum," said the lawyer.
http://www.epress.am/en/2015/01/26/what-types-of-legal-violations-exist-in-relation-to-the-gyumri-murder-case.html
From: A. Papazian