‘Legal absurdity’: Samvel Karapetyan’s legal team issues new statement

The legal team of Samvel Karapetyan—philanthropist, businessman, and owner of the Tashir Group of Companies—has issued a new statement, asserting that “legal absurdity” prevails in Armenia.

“Judge Armen Danielyan’s decision was delivered to Samvel Karapetyan’s lawyers by the Criminal Court of Appeal. Significant procedural violations committed during the appeal against the clearly unlawful detention of Samvel Karapetyan at the Criminal Court of Appeal were noted in previous statements, and it was made clear that justice should not be expected from the lowest-ranked judge.

Here is an excerpt from the above-mentioned judicial act, which refers to the refutation of reasonable suspicion of Samvel Karapetyan’s involvement in the incriminated act: ‘The Court of Appeal considers that the issues raised are much deeper… they cannot be considered in this case from the point of view of reasonable suspicion…’.

In other words, with this wording the judge neither refutes the suspicion nor substantiates it. The judge simply upheld the previous decision on detention without presenting any compelling legal justification.

It is precisely these kinds of ‘legal’ decisions that have led the professional community to lose all expectation of a fair trial from this judge, as this is yet another manifestation of legal absurdity and further evidence that this case constitutes political persecution,” the statement reads.