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Court Of Appeal Must Restore Justice

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  • Court Of Appeal Must Restore Justice

    COURT OF APPEAL MUST RESTORE JUSTICE

    A1+
    06:59 pm | May 08, 2009

    Politics

    The International Federtion for Human Rights (FIDH), Human Rights
    Centre (HRIDC) and Civil Society institute (CSI) have issued a joint
    statement which runs:

    Our organisations express their concern on the case of Mr. Vahagn
    Chakhalyan, sentenced to a 10-year prison term at the conclusion of
    a trial marred by irregularities, and who was subsequentlty brutally
    beaten in prison in Tbilisi.

    On April 7, 2009 the Akhaltsikhe district court in Georgia
    sentenced Mr. Vahagn Chakhalyan, a local activist from the ethnic
    Armenian-populated Javakheti region in the south of Georgia to 10 years
    in prison. The court found Mr. Chakhalyan guilty of the following
    counts: acquisition and possession of firearms and ammunition,
    participation in mass riots, organisation of a group action disturbing
    public order, resistance to the police or to another representative of
    the authorities, and hooliganism. The court also condemned his father
    Mr. Ruben Chakhalyan and his younger brother Mr. Armen Chakhalyan to
    fines equivalent to 3,000 and 1,200 USD respectively. On April 16,
    2009 Mr. Vahagn Chakhalyan was taken out of his cell in Tbilisi prison
    No. 8 to be brutally beaten by prison officers.

    Since his arrest in July 2008, the legal proceedings against
    Mr. Chakhalyan have been marred by irregularities.

    Mr. Chakhalyan was originally accused of illegal possession of
    firearms. Despite his lawyer requests, no fingerprints were ever
    collected on the weapons reportedly found in his house. Charges against
    him for violating public order are a later addition, and relate to
    protests that followed the October 2006 elections in Akhalkalaki.

    Mr. Chakhalyan's trial only started on November 6, 2008, and hearings
    were repeatedly postponed. All legal proceedings took place in
    Akhaltsikhe district court, although the events that led to the
    arrest of Mr. Chakhalyan, his father and younger brother took place
    in Akhalkalaki, their place of residence.

    For unknown reasons, the Ministry of Justice of Georgia rejected
    Mr. Chakhalyan's request to be represented by the lawyer of his
    choice. Considering that this decision violates the right of the
    defense, the Ombudsman of Georgia officially requested the Minister of
    Justice to permit the lawyer of his choice to defend Mr. Chakhalyan, to
    no avail. According to his lawyers and his relatives, the translation
    provided to Mr. Chakhalyan during his trial was incomplete and of
    poor quality. The written records of the proceedings are therefore
    likely to be flawed.

    Our organisations conclude that the procedure against Mr. Chakhalyan
    was carried out with blatant violations of national, regional and
    international legal standards on the right to a fair trial. FIDH, HRIDC
    and CSI intend to follow closely the appeal trial of Mr. Chakhalyan,
    and call upon the Georgian authorities to guarantee him a thorough and
    independent trial in appeal, in conformity with Georgia's obligations
    under regional and international Human Rights law.
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