A national association representing Armenia’s judges on Friday condemned what it called growing insults and threats publicly voiced against some of its members, saying that they pose a threat to judicial independence.
“Lately the hate speech against judges has surpassed the limits of admissibility set by international legal documents,” the Union of Judges said in a statement.
In particular, it claimed that in recent days “some members of the public” have used the press and social media to insult and even threaten judges and demand explanations for rulings handed down by them.
The union urged Armenian authorities, political and civic groups as well as ordinary citizens to refrain from demanding that such explanations, discrediting judges or exerting any pressure on them. It said that such behavior undermines “the independence of the entire judicial system” and the rule of law.
The statement did not specify rulings that triggered the hate speech. It most probably referred to public reactions to high-profile court cases involving former senior government or military officials accused of corruption.
One of them, former Deputy Defense Minister Manvel Grigorian, was freed from pretrial detention by a Yerevan court last week. The court’s decision provoked angry street protests in the town of Echmiadzin where Grigorian lived before being arrested in June.
Ever since he came to power in May Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has repeatedly stated that Armenian courts are no longer pressured by the government or law-enforcement agencies. At the same time he has made a case for “transitional justice” in the country, saying that the Armenian judiciary is still rife with corruption.
Speaking at an August 17 rally in Yerevan, Pashinian said that many judges execute “orders from representatives of the former corrupt authorities.” “Come to your senses and don’t mess with the people,” he warned them.
The remarks prompted serious concern from Pashinian’s political opponents. Some of them accused Pashinian of seeking to gain control over courts through new and unconstitutional bodies.
Justice Minister Artak Zeynalian dismissed those concerns, saying later in August that the possible introduction of new legal mechanisms would not contradict the Armenian constitution or international conventions signed by Armenia. “No courts will be dissolved and no courts of courts will be set up,” he said.
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