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Edik Baghdasaryan

Formula of Corruption

Decisions by the mayor of Yerevan are open documents which must be made accessible to all citizens of Armenia , including journalists. But when a journalist sends a letter to the mayor requesting permission to look at these open documents, the mayor refuses to grant it.

The journalist then appeals to the mayor's boss-the mayor of Yerevan is not elected; he is appointed by the president-Robert Kocharyan. (According to the Law on the Procedure of Consideration of Proposals, Appeals and Complaints , a citizen who contests a decision regarding his or her complaint may appeal to the agency or official to whom the agency or official who made the decision in question is directly accountable.)

The president's office sends the request back to the mayor to answer (although according to the law, the mayor has no right to respond to the journalist's letter, since it was his action that the journalist was appealing). The mayor again refuses to provide the information in question.

The journalist goes to the court of first instance, where Judge Gayane Karakhanyan dismisses the complaint, thus siding with the mayor and the president.

The journalist then appeals to the minister of justice, requesting that he launch a disciplinary inquiry into the numerous violations of law by the judge. Minister David Harutiunyan turns down the journalist's request, siding with the judge, the mayor, and the president.

The journalist appeals to the chairman of the State Anti-Corruption Council, Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan. He too turns the journalist down, in his turn siding with the minister of justice, the judge, the mayor, and the president.

The journalist appeals to the Court of Appeal on Civil Cases. Three judges of the court, Noyem Hovsepyan presiding, dismiss the journalist's appeal, siding with their colleague, their minister, the mayor, the prime minister, and the president.

This chain is at work in every domain. Hence, declaring the fight against corruption a national program is pointless. No one in Armenia is willing or able to fight any part of the chain, since each is linked to the next, and none wants the law in Armenia to function.

Why does mayor Yervand Zakharyan refuse to provide journalists with the texts of his and his predecessors' decisions? We have no choice but to suspect that these decisions contain illegalities. Indeed, Mayor Yervand Zakharyan has passed a number of unlawful decisions, each one of which serves as a classic example of corruption.

We will continue to write on this subject.

Diagram of corruption

Main Characters:

Yervand Zakharyan - Mayor of Yerevan 
Robert Kocharyan - President of Armenia, Chairman of the Judicial Council
Andranik Margaryan - Prime Minister of Armenia, Chairman of the State Anti-Corruption Council
David Harutiunyan - Minister of Justice
Gayane Karakhanyan - Judge of the Court of First Instance of the Kentron and Nork-Marash Communities of Yerevan
Noyem Hovsepyan - Judge of the Court of Appeal on Civil Cases of Armenia

Supporting Role: Edik Baghdasaryan - journalist

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