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Non-official translation Recommendation 2133 (2018) Provisional version Author(s): Parliamentary Assembly Origin – Assembly debate on 26 June 2018 (22nd Sitting) (see Doc. 14567, report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, rapporteur: Mr Egidijus Vareikis). Text adopted by the Assembly on 26 June 2018 (22nd Sitting). 1. Referring to its Resolution 2225 (2018)on protecting human rights defenders in Council of Europe member States, the Parliamentary Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers: 1.1. continue its dialogue with human ri…

The threats against Sandhya Eknaligoda have escalated ever since the Homagama Magistrate’s Court convicted prominent Buddhist nationalist monk, Galagodatte Gnanasara Thero, on 24 May 2018 for threatening her outside the court building in 2016. “The threats against Sandhya Eknaligoda are extremely worrying. The Sri Lankan authorities must urgently and effectively take appropriate action against those who seek to cause her harm” – Dinushika Dissanayake Galagodatte Gnanasara Thero is appealing against the conviction. In a series of menacing social media posts – which proliferated quickly, in a…

This report is a follow-up to the October 2017 Amnesty International report Poland: On the Streets to Defend Human Rights. It documents the state response to peaceful protest in Poland. In light of the high volume of prosecutions of peaceful protesters and the related importance of an independent judiciary to protect their rights, the report also looks into a number of government reforms undermining such independence. It rings alarm bells over such developments, which threaten critical guarantees for the protection and respect of human rights in Poland. Peaceful protest is a human right, no…

The Past (the fact) writes: The new powers of Armenia have excluded the practice of illegally interfering with any of the branches of the government, namely the activities of judges. However, there are concerns about the positions of the judiciary. On the one hand, the courts are of course given freedom, but on the other hand there is a danger of permissiveness. Besides, do not we need mechanisms that, if they will not exclude, they will at least minimize the corruption in that area? President of the “Helsinki Association” human rights organization Nina Karapetyants does not worry that the …

Karen Khachatryan, who had been accused in supporting the “Sasna Tsrer” group, was released on bail for pledge of 800.000 AMD. The Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan satisfied the motion filed by his defense lawyer Arayik Papikyan at a closed-door session. The Special Investigation Service had applied to the court asking them to prolong the duration of the preventive measure for Karen Khachatryan, arrested on April 8, for another two months. Karen Khachatryan was accused in having a telephone conversation with two of the “Sasna Tsrer” group members during which he provided them with s…

The lawsuit filed by Vahe Grigoryan against the decision of the Chamber of Advocates continued today at the Kentron Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan. Advocate Vahe Grigoryan demanded the court to invalidate the decisions of the chairman and the Board of the Chamber. The story started after an article had published at the Facebook by advocate Tigran Atanesyan, which was followed with a comment by plaintiff Vahe Grigoryan. “It seems to me that you [addressing to Mr. T. Atanesyan] should give lessons on “How the Chamber of Advocates and people who represent it should not be” at the Sch…

Mushegh Shushanyan and a group of other advocates refused to open their bags, claiming that they were being searched instead of examined. They stated that the problem could be resolved only when scanning devices were installed in the courts. Advocates in the case of the “Sasna Tsrer” claimed that the court bailiffs discriminated against some defenders, stating that they had some forbidden objects in their bags. Yet, the Board of the Chamber of Advocates decided to recognize Mushegh Shushanyan guilty for violating the advocate’s code of conduct. He was subjected to warning. The Board of the …

Advocate Inessa Petrosyan submitted an explanation to the Board presenting also several details on what had happened in the court on September 20. It was read by Karen Sardaryan, the chairperson in the Board’s hearing. “We were in the court building to attend the trial. When we saw that the court bailiffs, illegally, didn’t allow our colleagues Mushegh Shushanyan and Arayik Papikyan to enter the courtroom for their attendance in the trial, we filed a motion to postpone the trial, through submitting it to the court’s office. We had not entered the courtroom and had not attended the trial; co…

Meanwhile, Inessa Petrosyan noted that Judge Artush Gabrielyan had forced to silence her, while she wished to express her opinion. After having returned from the deliberation room, the Board of the Chamber of Advocates announced the decision on quashing disciplinary case N17123, noting that there was no violation of norms of behavior in Innesa Petrosyan’s actions.  By the way, a video filming of the hearings was again forbidden