Armenian attorneys discussed the pressures and repressions from the society and state bodies in Yerevan today. During the discussion that lasted a couple of hours, they presented the approaches of international organizations and examples of the practice in Armenia. They shared the view that there are such negative phenomena and that it is necessary to eliminate them and introduce institutions for protection of attorneys and confidentiality of information.

Attorney Hayk Alumyan stated that attorneys can boycott trials or even declare a workers’ strike as a way of fighting against the pressure.

Attorney Ara Ghazaryan said there are nearly ten criminal cases with a political subtext in Armenia. “They are formally criminal cases, but the subtext is political,” he said.

Attorney Aram Orbelyan touched upon the threats made to attorneys and added that if a certain person himself can’t pose a threat, taking into consideration the fact that the trial is broadcast live, there will be more viewers. As far as the independence of courts is concerned, Orbelyan emphasized the fact that their independence is extremely relative.