The Constitutional Court gave in September 2024 the green light for parliamentary ratification of a border delimitation agreement with Azerbaijan reached by the Armenian government. The main focus of its ruling was not the agreement itself but the preamble to Armenia’s constitution that mentions a 1990 declaration of independence. It echoed the government’s interpretation of that constitutional reference.
Armenian opposition figures and legal experts accused the court of overstepping its powers on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s orders. One of them, Edgar Ghazarian, went farther, decrying the “ignorance” of its judges.
Ghazarian was afterwards charged with spreading “defamatory information” about the judges installed by the country’s current political leadership. He went on trial before being elected to the National Assembly on the main opposition Strong Armenia alliance’s ticket in June this year.
A Yerevan court of first instance found Ghazarian guilty of the accusation, strongly denied by him, but rejected prosecutors’ demand to jail him for two and a half years and ban him from holding a public office for three years. It gave him the suspended prison sentence instead.
Ghazarian said he will appeal against the guilty verdict described by his lawyer, Rubem Melikian, as an “unacceptable restriction of the freedom of speech.” He will have to resign from the parliament if his appeals are rejected by higher courts.
“The aim of the verdict is to strip me of my parliament seat,” Ghazarian told reporters.
He argued that none of the Constitutional Court justices complained about his 2024 comments or publicly backed prosecutors’ claim that they discredited the court. None of those judges was even questioned during the criminal investigation or the ensuing trial, he said.
Incidentally, Ghazarian served as chief of the Constitutional Court staff from 2018-2020. He became a vocal critic of Pashinian in the following years. He has regularly attacked Pashinian and the ruling Civil Contract party on the parliament floor as well.
In the wake of the June 7 parliamentary elections, Ghazarian’s sister was sacked as deputy head of the Armenian government’s drug regulatory agency. Lilit Ghazarian, who had held that position since 2004, attributed her “illegal” dismissal to her brother’s political views and activities.
Over the past year, several other opposition figures as well as ordinary citizens have been prosecuted for using offensive or harsh language to denounce Pashinian on social media. Law-enforcement authorities have refrained from bringing criminal charges against Pashinian allies or supporters who have offended or threatened opposition politicians. Pashinian himself has regularly insulted opposition leaders and other critics.