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Arman Tatoyan, Armenia’s former human rights defender, has reacted to the recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) regarding the dismissal of Suren Antonyan as a judge of the Civil and Administrative Chamber of the Court of Cassation by Armenia’s Supreme Judicial Council in January 2023.

In its judgement delivered on Thursday, the court unanimously found that the dismissal violated the European Convention on Human Rights due to concerns over the impartiality of the Supreme Judicial Council chairman.

“The Court found in particular that the way in which non-judicial members were appointed to the Supreme Judicial Council could not be said to have compromised its independence. In particular, the institutional and operational arrangements in place provided sufficient formal safeguards and the Supreme Judicial Council acted as a “court” for the purposes of Article 6 § 1. At the same time, the Court found that the Supreme Judicial Council had failed to dispel Mr Antonyan’s justifiable doubts concerning the impartiality of its chair and that he had not been provided with sufficient procedural safeguards in that respect,” the ECHR said in a press release.

“The violation recorded by the ECHR, stemming from the misconduct of two business partners while holding senior positions in the judicial system, indicates that the Civil Contract party leadership puts personal and political interests above the state," Tatoyan said in an interview.

“Everything is being manipulated to serve the interests of a single party and its leader, reflecting behavior typical of authoritarian regimes,” he stated.

Tatoyan expressed concern that more significant violations are likely to follow, adding, "I warned about it two years ago.”