Ex-head of SJC considers prosecution political order 

ArmInfo.  Former head of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) Ruben Vardazaryan considers the verdict of the Anti-Corruption Court to be a political order. He  stated this on July 8 in an interview with journalists.

At the same time, he explained that there are still about 2-3 months  before the verdict comes into force, since it must be considered by  the Appeal and Cassation Courts. "However, the entire process proves  that this is nothing more than political persecution. Therefore, I am  sure that the verdict will not be changed.

Neither the Cassation nor the Appeal Court has a composition that  could deliver a fair verdict. Armenian courts do not have enough  courage to call these processes political persecution," Vardazaryan  noted.

The former head of the Supreme Judicial Council believes that the  process was initiated by his statement made on November 15, 2020, in  which he called on his colleagues to demonstrate dedication to their  work and act exclusively within the law. "At the same time, I stated  that if they do not act according to the law, then as the chairman of  the Supreme Judicial Council, I will do everything to ensure that  they answer for their illegal actions," he recalled.

Vardazaryan is sure that it was this statement of his that did not  satisfy the current government in the country, which demanded his  resignation. In connection with the above, he called on the judicial  system to fight for the true freedom of the judiciary.

"I have never been shy about expressing my civic position, and I have  always done so at the polling station.  Everything that I condemned  and disagreed with concerned exclusively the policy that was being  implemented in the judicial system, or the political line to which  they were trying to subordinate the judicial power. I fought  precisely against this. Yes, of course, I had a political position,  but I will repeat again that I expressed it exclusively at the  polling station, and not in the public arena or within the framework  of my work," the former head of the Supreme Judicial Council  summarized.

The former chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council Ruben Vardazaryan  was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison. By the court's  decision, Vardazaryan is also prohibited from holding positions in  state bodies and local governments for a period of two years. The  measure of restraint against him remained the same - a written  undertaking not to leave - until the verdict comes into force.

We will add that Ruben Vardazaryan is accused of the fact that since  July 19, 2019, while holding the position of the Chairman of the  Supreme Judicial Council, being a senior official of the judicial  body, he committed actions not related to his powers granted to him  by the Constitution and the Judicial Code. In particular, using his  official position, he obstructed the administration of justice by the  judge of the Lori Regional Court of General Jurisdiction Andranik  Simonyan.