I’ll resign under two conditions — if Nikol Pashinyan resigns and when I turn 65. This is what Judge of the Court of Appeal of Armenia Alexander Azaryan told Armenian News-NEWS.am, touching upon the speech that Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan gave today.

Alexander Azaryan is the judge upon whose decision second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan was released from custody on August 13, 2018 after the court recorded that a lame-duck president has presidential immunity. This led to unprecedented pressure on Azaryan on social media websites and among demonstrators.

Paying heed to Nikol Pashinyan’s call, this morning, citizens blocked the entrances to and exits from all courts of Armenia. At midday, the Prime Minister held a consultation over the current state of the judiciary and said the time has come for ‘surgical interventions’ in the judiciary. He added that all judges having announced verdicts with crude violations of citizens’ rights established by the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights must either resign or leave or be dismissed and that judges who know that they can’t be impartial must also resign.