EcoLur
On May 25, 2020, the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan City rejected the motion to declare self-disqualificiation to Judge Daniel Mkheyan. Gurgen Torosyan, the plaintiffs' lawyer in the case of Jermuk residents and environmentalists against RA Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan, filed a motion on May 22, 2020, demanding that Judge Daniel Mkheyan, who is examining the case, shall be self-disqualified.
15 plaintiffs in the case demand from the court to oblige the Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan to deny the statement he made in Tbilisi on October 22, 2019, stating that citizens fighting against the development of Amulsar gold mine are being financed by mining businessmen.
The court, on the one hand, imposes a specific obligation on the plaintiffs to prove that the public statement on the fact concerned the plaintiffs, and on the other hand, deprives them of the real opportunity to provide and present the evidence in accordance with the law. I think that the fact that the court rejected the motion to invite the defendant as a witness without any good reason proves the fact that the court is biased,” Gurgen Torosyan, the plaintiffs' representative, said in a conversation with EcoLur.
I have presented that I and the Armenian Environmental Front have been dealing with the issue of Amulsar for 7-8 years, we have participated in many events and hearings, we have held actions, we have prepared videos. I consider that statement a slander. Since the name of the group or people is not mentioned, the impression is that it concerns us. The Deputy Prime Minister, in his turn, neither says who he is referring to, nor says that he does not refer to you. This material is also spread on the Facebook pages of the miners, where the name of us and the AEF is written. At the same time, there are rumors circulating on the international stage that the Amulsar struggle is being funded,” he said.
May 26, 2020 at 14:55