YEREVAN. – The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on Thursday convened a session to examine the petition to launch disciplinary action against Judge Aleksandr Azaryan of the Criminal Court of Appeal of Armenia.

According to the petition submitted on March 13 by Special Investigation Service chief Sasun Khachatryan, Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan launched disciplinary proceedings against Judge Azaryan on April 10, and submitted a corresponding petition to the SJC on May 22.

In a conversation with NEWS.am, the judge's lawyer Tigran Atanesyan had described these disciplinary proceedings as political persecution.

According to media reports, the reason for launching these disciplinary proceedings is the assessment that was made at the closed court hearing in the case of pretrial detention of Armen Tavadyan, the owner of 5th Channel television company.