'Legal absurdity': Samvel Karapetyan's lawyers slam appellate judge's decision

The legal team of detained businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan has strongly criticized the decision handed down by judge Armen Danielyan of the Criminal Court of Appeals as "yet another manifestation of legal absurdity”.

In a statement on Wednesday, the legal team highlighted a key excerpt from the court ruling exposing the lack of legal reasoning behind the decision to uphold Karapetyan’s detention.

“The Court of Appeals finds that the raised questions are of much deeper nature... which, in this case, cannot be addressed from the perspective of reasonable suspicion.”

“In other words, the court essentially says that because the arguments disproving the existence of reasonable suspicion are "too deep", it chooses not to assess or even acknowledge the absence of reasonable suspicion. Instead, it simply upholds the lower court ruling without presenting any substantive legal justification. It is precisely such so-called ‘legal reasoning’ that has led the professional legal community to conclude that this judge cannot be expected to ensure a fair trial. The decision is yet another indication of legal absurdity and political persecution,” the legal team said.

The defense further notes that the case lacks any connection to Article 422 of the Criminal Code, and claim that decisions by the Constitutional Court and Court of Cassation actually contradict the charges brought against Karapetyan. “The court also failed to address the widely discussed issue that the report submitted by the chief prosecutor, which served as the basis for the accusation, could not constitute reasonable suspicion. Remarkably, the report was not even included in the case materials,” the lawyers stressed.

They  argue that the ruling contains no legal analysis and relies solely on vague references to an "objective observer”, whom the judge cites to justify the lower court’s decision. The defense describes it as either a clear indicator of the absence of justice or outright mockery of the law, especially given that Danielyan also rejected a formal recusal request against himself.

"It's worth noting that the justification provided by the judge with the lowest professional rating regarding Samvel Karapetyan's detention since 18 June is only two pages long. This falls far short of the minimum standards for a well-reasoned judicial act. At the same time, as was evident to the professional community, the true intent behind the prosecution’s appeal was clear and it was also denied,” the statement read.

The lawyers will soon announce the next steps in the legal process, including measures concerning judge Armen Danielyan’s conduct.