YEREVAN. – It has been a long time that the Special Investigation Service investigators and police officers have been in the apartment of president Hrayr Tovmasyan of the Constitutional Court of Armenia, but the search has not yet begun. Amram Makinyan, one of Tovmasyan's legal defenders, said this in a conversation with journalists today.
According to him, a search should be carried out, there is a respective court order, but the search has not started yet, as the head of the investigation group is hindering the full realization of their rights.
"In particular, Mr. Tovmasyan and Mr. Mihran Poghosyan, a member of the [legal] defense team, are not given the opportunity to become fully acquainted with the court order," he explained. “We have filed a relevant motion. This is an unprecedented practice in Armenia’s criminal proceedings that a person, a professional lawyer is not allowed to read the order. ”
Makinyan added that Hrayr Tovmasyan is currently in his apartment.
The attorney also noted that the right of the legal defense team should be fully realized.
"The investigation begins after getting familiarized with the [respective] court order," the lawyer added, in particular. “Now Mr. Tovmasyan's rights are again violated. And now the right to inviolability of residence is violated.”
Hrayr Tovmasyan, President of the Constitutional Court of Armenia, has been charged with abuse of power. The decision to involve him as a defendant in the respective criminal case was made by the Prosecutor General on December 26, 2019, the same day that President Armen Sarkissian signed the law granting the serving Constitutional Court judges the opportunity to retire early.
