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ARMENIA FINED BY EUROPEAN COURT FOR 'INHUMAN TREATMENT'
http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenia_Fined_By_European_Court_For_Inhuman_Treatm ent_Of_Prisoner_/2073893.html
Wednesday, 16 June 2010 17:38 |
European Court of Human Rightshuman rightspolice
RFE/RL -- The European Court of Human Rights has fined Armenia's
authorities 16,000 euros ($20,000) for what it regards as "inhuman"
treatment of an Armenian businessman who died in prison last year.
In a ruling handed down late on Tuesday, the Strasbourg-based court
said the late Ashot Harutiunian had been humiliated by prosecutors
during his trial and denied adequate medical assistance during his
imprisonment.
Harutiunian suffered from several serious illness and died of a second
heart attack in the Kosh prison in central Armenia at the age of 57 in
January 2009. He was arrested in May 2003 and subsequently sentenced
to seven years in prison on charges of defrauding a business partner.
He insisted on his innocence throughout his trial.
In a September 2004 lawsuit filed to the European Court, Harutiunian
protested the fact that he was kept in a metal cage during the trial
and accused law-enforcement authorities of not allowing him to undergo
urgent surgery recommended by doctors at a prison hospital in Yerevan.
He claimed that prison authorities ignored his requests for medical
assistance, medication and a special diet.
Harutiunian was not transferred to the prison hospital even after
suffering the first heart attack in July 2004.
In its written objections submitted to the court, the Armenian
government insisted that the businessman always had access to a doctor
and received treatment whenever requested. It said he was hospitalized
and had surgery for an intestinal ulcer in June 2003.
The court countered, however, that there are no medical records
proving that such operation was actually ever carried out. "Nor did
the applicant's medical file contain a single record of any check-up
by or assistance from the detention facility's medical staff between
29 August 2003 and 13 August 2004," it said in the ruling.
The court also ruled that Harutiunian should not have been caged and
thereby "humiliated" in the courtroom. "Nothing in the applicant's
behavior or personality could have justified such a security measure:
he had no previous convictions, no record of violent behavior,"
it said.
The court concluded that on both counts the Armenian authorities
violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights which
prohibits "inhuman or degrading treatment" of criminal suspects.
The late convict briefly regained freedom when a state commission
dominated by senior law-enforcement officials on parole for good
behavior in early 2007. However, an Armenian court promptly quashed
the decision after an appeal from state prosecutors.
Harutiunian's lawyer, Hayk Alumian, claimed on Wednesday that
Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian personally made sure that his
client is sent back to jail because of having close ties with another
businessman allegedly defrauded by Harutiunian. "There was a direct
intent to further exacerbate that person's suffering," Alumian told
RFE/RL's Armenian service.
The European Court fine, which must now be paid to the plaintiff's
daughter, is a further blow to the credibility of Armenia's reputedly
corrupt law-enforcement, judicial and penitentiary systems. The
Strasbourg tribunal had already slapped hefty fines on Yerevan in
over a dozen cases filed by Armenian citizens in the past.
Alumian predicted that its latest ruling will also not curb the scale
of human rights abuses in the country. "When state officials in Armenia
violate provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, they
know that even if we win a case against them at the European Court they
will not be held accountable," he said. "Officials may stop committing
so many violations only if they know that they can bear financial
and other responsibility as a result of European Court rulings."
From: A. Papazian
http://www.rferl.org/content/Armenia_Fined_By_European_Court_For_Inhuman_Treatm ent_Of_Prisoner_/2073893.html
Wednesday, 16 June 2010 17:38 |
European Court of Human Rightshuman rightspolice
RFE/RL -- The European Court of Human Rights has fined Armenia's
authorities 16,000 euros ($20,000) for what it regards as "inhuman"
treatment of an Armenian businessman who died in prison last year.
In a ruling handed down late on Tuesday, the Strasbourg-based court
said the late Ashot Harutiunian had been humiliated by prosecutors
during his trial and denied adequate medical assistance during his
imprisonment.
Harutiunian suffered from several serious illness and died of a second
heart attack in the Kosh prison in central Armenia at the age of 57 in
January 2009. He was arrested in May 2003 and subsequently sentenced
to seven years in prison on charges of defrauding a business partner.
He insisted on his innocence throughout his trial.
In a September 2004 lawsuit filed to the European Court, Harutiunian
protested the fact that he was kept in a metal cage during the trial
and accused law-enforcement authorities of not allowing him to undergo
urgent surgery recommended by doctors at a prison hospital in Yerevan.
He claimed that prison authorities ignored his requests for medical
assistance, medication and a special diet.
Harutiunian was not transferred to the prison hospital even after
suffering the first heart attack in July 2004.
In its written objections submitted to the court, the Armenian
government insisted that the businessman always had access to a doctor
and received treatment whenever requested. It said he was hospitalized
and had surgery for an intestinal ulcer in June 2003.
The court countered, however, that there are no medical records
proving that such operation was actually ever carried out. "Nor did
the applicant's medical file contain a single record of any check-up
by or assistance from the detention facility's medical staff between
29 August 2003 and 13 August 2004," it said in the ruling.
The court also ruled that Harutiunian should not have been caged and
thereby "humiliated" in the courtroom. "Nothing in the applicant's
behavior or personality could have justified such a security measure:
he had no previous convictions, no record of violent behavior,"
it said.
The court concluded that on both counts the Armenian authorities
violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights which
prohibits "inhuman or degrading treatment" of criminal suspects.
The late convict briefly regained freedom when a state commission
dominated by senior law-enforcement officials on parole for good
behavior in early 2007. However, an Armenian court promptly quashed
the decision after an appeal from state prosecutors.
Harutiunian's lawyer, Hayk Alumian, claimed on Wednesday that
Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian personally made sure that his
client is sent back to jail because of having close ties with another
businessman allegedly defrauded by Harutiunian. "There was a direct
intent to further exacerbate that person's suffering," Alumian told
RFE/RL's Armenian service.
The European Court fine, which must now be paid to the plaintiff's
daughter, is a further blow to the credibility of Armenia's reputedly
corrupt law-enforcement, judicial and penitentiary systems. The
Strasbourg tribunal had already slapped hefty fines on Yerevan in
over a dozen cases filed by Armenian citizens in the past.
Alumian predicted that its latest ruling will also not curb the scale
of human rights abuses in the country. "When state officials in Armenia
violate provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, they
know that even if we win a case against them at the European Court they
will not be held accountable," he said. "Officials may stop committing
so many violations only if they know that they can bear financial
and other responsibility as a result of European Court rulings."
From: A. Papazian