Today, the European Court of Human Rights published its “Farmanyan v. Armenia” judgment regarding the “March 1” protests. The ECHR found several violations by Armenia.
According to the court, it was established that in the case of 7 of the victims (in addition to Samvel Harutyunyan and Zakar Hovhannisyan) – Armen Farmanyan, Tigran Khachatryan, Gor Kloyan, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, Davit Petrosyan, Grigor Gevorgyan, Samvel Harutyunyan), the right to life was violated. The deadly force used by the state could not have been “necessary”. A poorly planned operation caused the deaths, inappropriate use of weapons, and the unreasonable and disproportionate use of deadly force.
It was established that there were violations during the investigation of the circumstances of the deaths. The state failed to conduct an effective, impartial, and comprehensive investigation into the circumstances of the victims’ deaths.
It was also confirmed that the State had failed to fulfil its obligations to provide the Court with the necessary information.
According to the decision, the State must pay the victims' relatives 30,000 euros in compensation for non-pecuniary damage in each application. In addition, the Court decided to award the applicants a total of 35,000 euros for legal costs and expenses.
