Ter-Petrosyan vs. Armenia: ECHR delivers judgement in March 1, 2008 case

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has published its judgment in the case Levon Ter-Petrosyan vs Armenia, dismissing the appeal on the grounds of non-exhaustion of domestic remedies.

Vahe Grigoryan, a lawyer practising in Yerevan, represented the first president in the Court, according to the official judgement. 

Ter-Petrosyan alleged, in particular, that his right to freedom of peaceful assembly (Article 11, European Convention on Human Rights) had been violated and he had had no effective remedy in that respect.

The Court dismissed the Government's allegations that the early morning rallies on March 1, 2008 were not peaceful. It found the submitted evidence insufficient to satisfy the claim, citing as a precedent the earlier judgement passed in the case Saghatelyan v. Armenia. The Court thus ruled that the right prescribed by Article 11 of the Convention had been violated.

 The ECHR also declared a violation of the right to effective remedy (Article 13).

Ter-Petrosyan further alleged that the resriction on his right to freedom of peaceful assembly was the result of unlawful and disproportionate interference by the police (discrimination as prescribed by Article 14), but the Court did not see any need to examine that complaint.

The Court similarly found inadmissible the former president's complaint that his home arrest during the turmoil was politically motivated. It claimed that the available evidence was insufficient to prove that the State Patrol Service of Police restricted his personal freedom and right to free movement.