MP Edmon Maroukyan today filed an amicus curia (friend of the court) brief with Armenia’s Criminal Court of Appeals regarding civic activist Vardges Gaspari, who has been arrested for refusing to attend court proceedings in which he is charged with contempt of court and defamation.

In the brief, Maroukyan argues that a February 19 decision by Yerevan’s Shengavit District Court to issue an arrest warrant for Gaspari was legally unsubstantiated and that there was no urgent need to detain Gaspari.

Gaspari is now being held in the Nubarashen prison. His lawyer, Tigran Yegoryan, claims that prison officials have tortured Gaspari.

Maroukyan, in the brief, says that Gaspari’s detainment runs counter to Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights; the Right to Liberty and Security. The MP also argues that the decision to detain Gaspari isn’t aimed to guarantee his presence at court proceedings, but rather it’s a form of punishment.

Maroukyan has called on the Criminal Court of Appeals to rescind the Shengavit court’s decision and to immediately release Gaspari.

Photo: MP Edmon Maroukyan, Vardges Gaspari (refusing to be returned to his cell)