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The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday delivered a judgement in the Levon Ter-Petrosyan v. Armenia case, unanimously finding a violation of the right to freedom of assembly and of the right to an effective remedy under Articles 11 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The former president’s complaints under Article 5.1 (right to liberty and security) and Article 2 of Protocol No. 4 (freedom of movement) were rejected as manifestly ill-founded.

The ECHR notes that the case concerned Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s (in office from 1991 to1998) complaint about the dispersal of a protest rally on 1 March 2008, the lack of an effective remedy and his alleged placement under house arrest.

The European court found in particular that the Armenian government, claiming non-exhaustion of domestic remedies, had failed to satisfy it that there had been an effective remedy in the domestic legal system. It further held that the dispersal of the assembly had not been justified.

Regarding the former president’s house arrest, the court found that it was not in a position to conclude he had been deprived of his liberty or had had his freedom of movement restricted.

The European court observed that the applicant had failed to duly submit a claim for just satisfaction.