Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

As we have already informed, since 16 August 2019, court sessions on the case of the Russian serviceman A. Razgildeyev have not been conducted in connection with the condition that he serves his arrest in the territory of Russian military base 102. 

The commander of the Russian 102nd military base  uses obviously ungrounded reasoning and refuses to present A. Razgildeyev to the court, by thus impeding the administration of justice. 

Let us remind that on 2 December 2018, in Gyumri, Russian 102nd military base serviceman Andrey Razgildeyev, under the effect of alcohol, severely beat Gyumri resident Julieta Ghukasyan, deliberately hit the woman on the head and on various parts of her body and then fled.  J. Ghukasyan died of the injuries on the same day in Gyumri medical center. 

A. Razgildeyev was charged under Article 112 part 2 clause 14 (deliberately causing grave damage to health) and arrest was chosen as a restrictive measure. Since this decision was taken, he has been serving his arrest in the territory of the military base.

Representatives of the victim’s successor, HCA Vanadzor Chairman and advocates A.Zalyan and H.Hakobyan made a petition to transfer him to the appropriate RA penitentiary institution, but the body conducting the proceedings and the prosecutor conducting control refused it. The decision was left unchanged even after challenging it in court. Representatives of the victim’s legal successor filed a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights.

Ahead of the session of September 24, Russian military base commander N. Martinyuk made a petition to Shirak region General Jurisdiction Court presiding judge Gagik Hovhannisyan and proposed that court sessions be conducted in the territory of the Russian military base via a video call and substantiated this by the condition of coronavirus pandemic.

In response, on 23 September 2020, HCA Vanadzor Chairman Artur Sakunts, advocates Arayik Zalyan and Hayk Hakobyan presented an objection to Adrine Ghukasyan, the judge investigating the case, finding that Martinyuk’s petition was ungrounded. Court sessions of the criminal case could not be conducted in the territory of the military base via video connection, as it contradicted the RA legislation. In particular, according to Article 1 of the RA Criminal Procedure Code, the procedure of criminal case proceedings in the RA territory  is established by RA Constitution, international treaties, this Code, RA Constitutional law “Judicial Code of the Republic of Armenia” and other laws adopted respectively. Criminal procedure law norms adopted by other laws must be in line with this code.

The procedure of the proceedings established by criminal procedural legislation is compulsory for courts, investigation, preliminary investigation and prosecutorial bodies, as well as for participants of the procedure.

Based on the aforementioned, a criminal case under proceedings in the RA court cannot be investigated in any other way different from what is established by law, while the court and participants of the trial, including the defendant, must obey and observe the procedure of the proceedings as established by law.

Besides, court sessions cannot be conducted in the territory of the military base via video connection based on the condition that no such legal regulation is established in the RA criminal procedure legislation. Also, the commander of the military base does not have the status of a participant in the trial in the frame of the criminal case, therefore he is deprived of the opportunity to make such a petition. 

At the same time, HCA Vanadzor assures that the furnishing of the court and court session hall itself cannot put under doubt the security of participants of the trial , as well as the defendant and those accompanying him.  

In this context, the injured party reinstates the position that Russian 102nd military base commander N. Martinyuk presents obviously ungrounded and illegal reasoning  as he refuses to ensure the presence of A. Razgildeyev in court. This is evidenced also by the fact that before the coronavirus pandemic, he did not make any efforts to present A. Razgildeyev to court, and instead, he constantly claims written guarantees of the security of A. Razgildeyev and those accompanying him, which, the RF MoD has not received from the Armenian side. 

We have noted many times that by this conduct the commander of the Russian 102nd military base hinders the administration of justice in the RA territory, deliberately does not fulfill the court’s legal requirement to bring A. Razgildeyev to court. It is no less concerning that his conduct has not received any assessment by the court and the Prosecutor’s office.

Thus, based on the aforementioned, HCA Vanadzor Chairman Artur Sakunts, advocates Arayik Zalyan and Hayk Hakobyan objected to the conduction of court sessions via video connection in the territory of the Russian military base and requested judge Ghukasyan to reject Russian military base commander N. Martinyuk’s petition for it being ungrounded.