Armenia’s top court denies motion to summon President Armen Sarkissian as witness
The Constitutional Court of Armenia on Saturday continued hearings on the opposition appeals challenging the official results of last month’s snap parliamentary elections.
The top court received separate election appeals from the opposition Armenia bloc, I’m Honored bloc, Zartonk (Awakening) National Christian Party and Hayots Hayrenik (Armenian Homeland) Party last week and decided to examine them as part of one case. The court opened hearings in the case on Friday.
At today’s hearing, Constitutional Court Chairman Arman Dilanyan ruled on two motions filed by judge Hrayr Tovmasyan on Friday.
He granted one of the motions to oblige the human rights defender to submit to the Constitutional Court reports on human rights violations recorded by the ombudsman’s office during the election period.
Separately, Dilanyan denied another petition of Hrayr Tovmasyan to summon President Armen Sarkissian to testify in court as a witness in the case. He argued that the president does not have a procedural status of a party in the case.
Hrayr Tovmasyan stated today that his motion was denied just because it was erroneous, asking the court to involve Armen Sarkissian as a witness in the case in accordance with Article 55 of the law "On Constitutional Court".
“The rationale behind the petition is that three plaintiffs in the case raised a question, to which neither the respondent nor the co-respondents can answer. This is a circumstance that is significant for the outcome of the case. This is an essential circumstance for society as well,” he said.
The judge stated he had no doubts that the president was forced to set the elections for June 20, stressing the court must consider the issue.
Chairman Arman Dilanyan suggested continuing to get acquainted with the arguments of the Armenia alliance and to consider the petitions during the break. By the decision of the majority of judges, the motion will be examined in the deliberations room after the break.