In 2009, Joseph Karayan, a lecturer at the Vanadzor branch of the State Engineering University of Armenia, was arrested on the suspicion of taking a bribe.

After spending the next 10 months and 3 days in detention, in June 2010 a court absolved him of the crime. Mr. Karayan is now suing the government of Armenia for over 3 million for material and non-material damages.

The Lori Regional Prosecutor's Office appealed the decision of the lower court, but the Court of Appeals and the Court of Cassation threw it out. The aggrieved Karayan now has the right to seek compensation from the government.

It isn't only the fact that he was detained for so long that has Karayan so angry. While in jail, he was also kept in isolation and had visits from and phone conservations with close relatives severely curtailed, in direct contravention of his rights. His assets were also frozen.

Based on a decision by the Prosecutor, Karayan teaching post was also temporarily suspended.

The 3 million AMD in compensation that Karayan is demanding from the government consists of 1.541 million in material damages (lost wages, legal and court fees, travel and postage expenses, etc).

In terms of non-material (moral) damages, Karayan wants1.535 million AMD for the actual time he spent behind bars – 307 days at 5,000 AMD per day.

Karayan, who never had any brushes with the law before his arrest, is also registered as 3rd level disabled from birth.

Evidently, none of this was ever taken into account by the judge in the original case when he kept adding pre-trial detention time to Karayan's case.