Lawyer: Armenian court says Artsakh dissolution decree signed under duress

A Yerevan civil court has ruled that a decree signed by Artsakh’s former president dissolving the country was signed under coercion and therefore has no legal force, according to the president’s lawyer, even as the court rejected a related lawsuit.

Roman Yeritsyan, attorney for former Artsakh President Samvel Shahramanyan, said the ruling by judge Ashot Hovhannisyan found that any document signed under the use or immediate threat of force is void from the moment of signing, citing principles of domestic and international law.

The case stemmed from a lawsuit filed against Armenia’s Education Ministry and the author of a 9th-grade history textbook, which states that Shahramanyan signed a decree dissolving Artsakh. The court dismissed the claim, ruling that Shahramanyan’s honor and dignity were not harmed, but noted that the textbook’s account was incomplete, Yeritsyan said.

According to the lawyer, the court recorded that the decree was issued under force or the threat of force and emphasized that such circumstances render it legally null. He said the court also drew the education ministry’s attention to the need for fuller context in the textbook.

Yeritsyan said Shahramanyan’s legal team will wait for the ruling to enter into force before formally asking the ministry to update the textbook to reflect the circumstances under which the decree was issued.

Shahramanyan served as Artsakh’s fifth president.