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The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued on Thursday the verdict on “Karapetyan and Others v. Armenia, holding, by six votes to one, that there has been no violation of Article 10 of the European Human Rights Convention- right to freedom of expression.

The remind, the case refers to dismissal from office of four civil servants who occupied different posts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs following their statement criticizing the government in the aftermath of the 2008 presidential elections. Applicants Vladimir Karapetyan, Martha Ayvazyan, Araqel Semirjyan, and Karine Afrikyan had alleged, in particular, that their dismissal from office following their statement in the media had violated their right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the Convention.

Recognizing a civil servant’s right to freedom of expression, Court considered that measures directed at the need to preserve the political neutrality of a precise category of civil servants can in principle be considered legitimate and proportional for the purposes of Article 10 of the Convention. As the judgement read, the Armenian legislation set out such a restriction in the Diplomatic Service Act which provided that a diplomat should be dismissed from office if he violated any of the restrictions prescribed in section 44 of the Act. Moreover, the Court stated that the provision was sufficiently clearly formulated in order to fulfil the requirements of precision and foreseeability under Article 10 § 2 of the Convention.

Additionally, the Court found that the government have demonstrated that the measures taken against the applicants were based on relevant and sufficient grounds and were proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued.

The judgment included the facts and the circumstances of the case, specifically the statement issued on February 23, 2008 by several ambassadors of Armenia, expressing “support to the compatriots who have risen to struggle for freedom, protection of the right to a fair election and establishment of true democracy in Armenia”. The ambassadors were dismissed from their post the next day.

On February 24 the applicants made a statement joining the ambassadors to struggle against the “fraught with internal and external undesirable challenges, and outrage against the fraud of the election process, which shadow the will of our country and society to conduct a civilized, fair and free presidential election”.