Tovmasian avoided a prison sentence because of the statute of limitations. However, he will likely be ousted from the court if the guilty verdict is upheld by higher courts.
Tovmasian was indicted in December 2019 after he and most other Constitutional Court justices rejected Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s demands to resign. Pashinian accused them of maintaining close ties to Armenia’s former government and impeding his “judicial reforms.” His critics countered that he is only keen to purge the judiciary in order to cement grip on power.
Pashinian and his political team eventually succeeded in significantly changing the court’s composition through constitutional amendments controversially passed by the Armenian parliament in 2020. The amendments forced Tovmasian to quit as court chairman but remain a judge.
His trial continued in the meantime. It accelerated dramatically in recent weeks as a result of what critics see as heightened government pressure on the presiding judge, Tatevik Grigorian.
In her verdict, Grigorian backed prosecutors’ accusations that Tovmasian had unlawfully privatized an office in Yerevan and forced state notaries to rent other premises “de facto” belonging to him when serving as justice minister from 2010-2014.
“This is not a verdict against me but a step taken on the way to removing another stone from the foundation of justice in our country,” Tovmasian told reporters. “And this judge has been a false judge through and through.”
“She knew from the beginning what decision she was going to make,” he said.
The ruling, Tovmasian claimed, means that “something bad awaits Armenia, in which the Constitutional Court should be involved.”
The trial prosecutors demanded last month a seven-year prison sentence for Tovmasian. One of them said he will have to leave the Constitutional Court even if he is convicted by the court but avoids imprisonment.
Tovmasian’s lawyer, Aram Orbelian, did not deny this on Friday. He said his client will remain a Constitutional Court judge at least until the ruling comes into force in case of being upheld by higher courts. Tovmasian confirmed that he will appeal against it.