In 2021, G.T. reported to the Right Side Human Rights Defender NGO that they were accused of driving a vehicle, while not having driver’s license and being in an inebriated state, on September 17, 2021. A criminal case was initiated in the Kotayk Region Department of the RA Investigative Committee under Part 2 of Article 243.1 of the RA Criminal Code. G.T. asked the NGO to undertake the protection of their interests. The Organization immediately began to protect the rights of G. T. and the lawyer of the organization A. Margaryan was involved in the case as a defender.

   Due to the Organization’s consistent and defensive work, on 10.03.2022 the Court of General Jurisdiction of Kotayk Region imposed a mild punishment in the form of imprisonment for a period of 6 (six) months against G.T. without depriving the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities, and in accordance with Article 70 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, the Court decided conditionally not to apply the sentence imposed on G.T., establishing a probationary period of 1 (one) year.

   The Prosecutor, not agreeing with the verdict, submitted an appeal to the RA Criminal Court of Appeals, demanding the annulment of the verdict in terms of not applying the sentence conditionally.

   It should be noted that the Criminal Court of Appeal of the Republic of Armenia by its decision of 23.09.2022 completely rejected the appeal of the prosecutor, leaving the verdict of the Court of First Instance of Kotayk Region of the Republic of Armenia of March 10, 2022 unchanged.

  As a result, the sentence imposed on G.T. will not be applied conditionally, the latter will remain in freedom.

October 07, 2022 Armenia, Yerevan