Lawyer: Armenian court finds government arbitrarily restricted  constitutional freedoms of expression and assembly in November 2020

ArmInfo.The Administrative Court of Appeals in Armenia, in its final and binding decision, has declared illegal a provision in the appendix to the 2020 government decision declaring martial law in the country that prohibited  assemblies and free expression (critical statements), as stated by lawyer Vahe Grigoryan  on his Facebook page.

"The decision of the Administrative Court of Appeals to reject the  government's appeal has entered into legal force," the lawyer noted.

Grigoryan recalled that he, along with Artsvik Minasyan, secretary of  the Armenia parliamentary faction, and Artur Ghazinyan, leader of the  "One Armenia" party, had filed a complaint against the Armenian  authorities' decision to impose martial law,  prohibiting public  gatherings and free expression.

"At that time, as a result of the authorities' unlawful restrictions,  106 people were fined between 300,000 and 1 million drams, several  hundred citizens were illegally arrested, and criminal cases were  brought against many others, all of which must be declared illegal.  Now, a judicial decision, not subject to appeal, has established that  the government arbitrarily restricted the constitutional freedoms of  expression and assembly," Grigoryan concluded.

Recall,  on November 12, 2020, 10 people were detained for holding  and organizing rallies, including "Prosperous Armenia" party leader  Gagik Tsarukyan, "Republican Party of Armenia" press secretary Eduard  Sharmazanov, ARF Dashnaktsutyun representative Gegham Manukyan, RPA  member David Hambardzumyan, and former National Assembly Vice Speaker  Ara Sahakyan. The rallies took place following the publication of the  trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, ending hostilities in the  Nagorno- Karabakh conflict zone. The protests were organized to  demand the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.