Supporters of Armenia’s government blocked the entrances to court buildings across the country on Monday, responding to an appeal from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian made following former President Robert Kocharian’s controversial release from custody.
The unprecedented protests seemed to have disrupted the work of those courts, including the Constitutional Court. Police officers deployed outside them did not try to unblock the entrances.
Video circulated by several Armenian media outlets showed several protesters physically preventing one judge from entering a district court building in Yerevan through a window.
Pashinian visited and hailed several dozen protesters rallying outside another district court in the Armenian capital. “I hope you don’t catch a cold,” he said. “I’ve come to say that I love you,” he added.
Parliament deputies from Pashinian’s My Step alliance joined government supporters blocking other court buildings. They claimed that they are “meeting with voters,” rather than participating in the protests.
Pashinian called for the blockade on Sunday, saying that they should mark “the start of the second and most important phase of the Armenian revolution” that brought him to power one year ago. He appealed to supporters one day after a Yerevan court ordered Kocharian released from jail pending the outcome of his trial on coup and corruption charges. The court’s decision angered many of his loyalists.
My Step lawmakers denied any connection between Kocharian’s release and Pashinian’s appeal when they spoke to reporters outside blocked courts.
Armenia’s leading opposition groups were quick to denounce the appeal as unconstitutional and accuse the prime minister of meddling in the work of the courts. The Supreme Judicial Council, a body overseeing the Armenian judiciary, likewise said that any pressure on the courts is “unacceptable.”
Pashinian was due to meet with members of the council and other officials later on Monday. He said on Sunday that he will make an “important statement about the situation in the judicial system and the establishment of the people’s power in this area as well.”