The
case of Stepan Hovhakimyan who is charged with burglary in the Cinema Moscow
and is kept in detention for almost 28 months, is sent to the European Court of
Human Rights.

Let us remind that Stepan Hovhakimyan and Vahram Kerobyan
are charged for theft of 5 million 80 thousand Armenian drams and 10000 Russian
rubles. They are detained for more than two years, and their case is
investigated by the Court of First Instance of Kentron and Nork Marash administrative
districts chaired by Judge Mkhitar Papoyan.

The
detention was based on a testimony of Hovhakimyan, who asserts that the
testimony was obtained through torture. His lawyer mentions that no proper
investigation was conducted regarding Hovhakimyan’s declaration on cruel treatment.

The
complaint on Hovhakimyan’s case was sent to the European Court of Human Rights
about violation of the Articles 3, 5, 6 and 13 of the European Convention on
Human Rights.

“The
basis of the complaint is violation of the Art.3 of the Convention on cruel
treatment aimed at obtaining testimony, and on absence of effective
investigation of complaints about cruel treatment,” said the lawyer to the www.hra.am.

The complaint refers also to Article 5 of the
Convention: p.1- regarding violation related to detention in absence of legal
basis, p.3 - regarding unlawfully long detention, p.4-regarding absence of
opportunity to appeal the lawfulness of detention during court investigation.

“We also mentioned that according to the Art.6 of
the European Convention on Human Rights, there was a violation regarding “equal
forces” principle during the court hearings on the complaint against the
decision of the Special Investigative Service, which declined the appeal on
ungrounded long detention during criminal investigation and the appeal to open
a criminal case on torture,” says lawyer Safaryan.

The European Court of Human Rights also qualifies
as violation the absence of effective legal defense in case of ungrounded long
investigation, which is stated in the Art.13 of the Convention. The
lawyer’scomplaint also referred to this Article.

As Tigran Safaryan informed www.hra.am, the complaint to the European
Court of Human Rights was sent on 28 May, and the response is expected not
earlier than one year.

Let us mention that the U.S. State Department
2011 Report on Human Rights also outlined the case of Stepan Hovhakimyan
and Vahram Kerobyan.

Also, today on 30 May, at 16:30, the next court
hearing on the case will take place at the Kentron and
Nork Marash First Instance Court.