YEREVAN. – If there are judges who have made judgments in violation of the law, and if there is a case of bribery, they should be punished according to the law. Gevorg Gorgisyan, secretary of the opposition Bright Armenia Party faction at the National Assembly (NA), on Monday told this to reporters. 

When asked if the judges who have made wrong decisions should resign, he responded that this matter should be discussed.

“Those bodies should be independent,” he added. “The National Assembly elected them. Now the makeup of the NA has changed, but the National Assembly is an institution; change of power there should not affect continuity.”

Also, reporters asked Gorgisyan whether he agrees with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement that the judicial power in Armenia also belongs to its people, and the latter have the right to express their grievance with it in that way.

“Tell me, who are the people?” he asked, in turn. “Who decides who the people are? What amount of citizens do we consider people?”

The MP stressed that obstructing justice is criminally punishable, but the law enforcement should assess whether or not blocking the entrances and exits of courts was constitutional.

As reported earlier, PM Nikol Pashinyan on Sunday evening called on people to on Monday close off the entrances and exits of all courts in Armenia, as of 8:30am. In an earlier post, he had announced that he will speak live at noon, and with respect to the present-day situation in the judiciary of Armenia, and establishing the people’s power in this domain, too.

Several NGOs, however, have assessed this call by Pashinyan as a breach of the constitutional order in Armenia. Also, a number of political parties—including the Prosperous Armenia and the Bright Armenia Parties that are represented in parliament—have issued statements in this regard.

But at 1pm, and again upon Pashinyan’s call, people began to reopen the entrances and exits of the courts.