Arsen Gevorgyan’s death in prison: the judge who jailed him steps down from the case
- Published
- Place
- Yerevan, Armenia
- Event date
- Past event —
Summary
The judge who sent Arsen Gevorgyan to pre-trial detention has stepped down from the case. Aram Grigoryan, of the Anti-Corruption Court, recused himself in a decision dated 11 November, reported on the 13th by Azatutyun and the investigative site Hetq. An opposition figure from the Strong Armenia party who led its list in the Stepanavan local elections, 46-year-old Arsen Gevorgyan died on 10 November at Nubarashen prison, on the 21st day of his detention. The judge says he could remain impartial. But public statements have linked the death to his detention, he explains, and an observer might doubt his neutrality. On the same day, the head of the Penitentiary Service, Tsovinar Tadevosyan, said the system had done “everything” to prevent the tragedy. The family’s lawyers disagree: in their view, the ambulance was called too late.
A case against fourteen people
Arsen Gevorgyan was accused of offering money to voters and of preparing to do so. Thirteen other people are being prosecuted in the same case. He denied the charges. His party calls the proceedings political.
On 21 October, four days before the vote, Aram Grigoryan had remanded him in custody for two months. The case reached the court on 6 November and was assigned to him on the 9th. He immediately scheduled a preliminary hearing. The next day, Arsen Gevorgyan died in his cell.
The judge is stepping aside “in the interests of justice”, he writes, so that no doubt hangs over the trial. The case has been sent back to the court president to be reassigned. According to Hetq, it goes to Judge Vardges Sargsyan.
“Everything was done”, says the prison service
“The penitentiary service, the system, did everything so that this would not happen,” Tsovinar Tadevosyan told Azatutyun. An internal inquiry is under way, with no results so far. In her view, CCTV footage shows the ambulance was not late.
The service published this timeline on 12 November. At 07:42, a nurse arrives at the cell. At 07:45, the nurse leaves to have an ambulance called. The paramedics enter the prison at 08:10 and the cell at 08:13. Death is confirmed between 08:27 and 08:33, in the corridor. According to Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan, the ambulance arrived 16 minutes after the call. The detainee was alone in a seven-square-metre cell, and his medical record showed no illness, she added.
No doctor on duty
Why was he not taken straight to hospital, as the lawyers argue he should have been? With heart problems, transport must be properly organised, Tsovinar Tadevosyan replies. Officers followed the procedure: alert the medical unit, which assesses the detainee, then call an ambulance if needed.
But Nubarashen has no doctor on duty. Nor do seven other prisons in the country: only Armavir has one, Azatutyun notes. First aid was given by a nurse. According to the lawyers, the nurse could not make a diagnosis. Azatutyun has sent written questions to the Health Ministry, which runs prison medical services.
Analysis
The recusal says nothing about the merits. But it shows how heavily this death weighs on Armenian justice. A judge prefers to withdraw rather than let doubt linger. The debate now turns on two points: the pre-trial detention of a candidate, ordered four days before an election, and the lack of doctors in almost all prisons. The first is for judges, the second for the government. The forensic examination, still awaited, will be decisive for what comes next. Until then, each side is sticking to its version.
Possible consequences
Criminal proceedings have been opened into the circumstances of the death and a forensic examination has been ordered. The Penitentiary Service’s internal inquiry continues.
