Human rights defender Roman Yeritsyan wrote:

“I make a public appeal to the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary opposition forces, the media, representatives of all public and human rights organizations, as well as to all persons concerned and interested in the issue outlined below.

The Appellate Administrative Court decided to examine the appeal filed by me against the decision regarding the expropriation of Artsakh from the building of the permanent representation of the Republic of Artsakh in Armenia, and scheduled the publication of the judicial act in November of this year.
This speed is just lightning fast for the Administrative Court of Appeal.

For comparison, I should mention that in the period following the same complaint, that is, after the legislative changes, with the appeals submitted on behalf of or against my clients in other cases, the Appeals Administrative Court, due to its workload, set the date of publication of judicial acts in 2027, 2028, and in some cases even 2029.

Moreover, the subject of examination in those cases are social, labor, healthcare, migration and other issues of human vital importance.

It turns out that a person’s health, the issue of residence, work, provision of income and earnings, or the activity of a legal entity do not have the urgency and importance for the Appeals Administrative Court, which has the issue of expropriation of Artsakh.

I would also like to remind that the RA General Prosecutor’s Office put the factual basis of the claim to invalidate the state registration of ownership rights of the representation building, made back in 2007, the fact that although the decision of the RA government to expropriate the building to the Republic of Artsakh is still valid, there is no donation agreement. Among others, provisions of the law that did not exist at the time of the legal relationship and other normative legal acts were cited as a legal basis.

In turn, the court, not making the registered owner, the government of the Republic of Artsakh, a party to the trial on its own initiative and rejecting dozens of motions submitted in this regard on the basis of not accepting the subjectivity of the Republic of Artsakh, again decided to satisfy the claim with lightning speed.

Having no alternative, I had to represent the interests of the Republic of Artsakh on behalf of “Fides Mortgage Company” UWC PB company, taking advantage of the fact that the latter is registered in the Republic of Armenia and has the right to use the building free of charge.

Dear ladies and gentlemen

For thousands of Artsakh citizens, the representative building is not just real estate or another building in the center of Yerevan.

It has historical, cultural and national significance. For many of us, it is one of the last tangible connections with Artsakh.

From the international legal point of view, it is also the territory of the Republic of Artsakh, which is the only one that continues to be under the rule of Artsakh. The building has a state registration of property rights, it is also registered as a diplomatic body in the authorized body of Armenia and belongs to Artsakh and the people of Artsakh by law.

This building is not just walls and space for me and thousands of Artsakh residents. It is a value connecting us with Artsakh.

It is one of the last symbols left in our possession.

It is the opportunity to preserve the constitutional institutions of Artsakh.

It does not matter to me at all who or who are sitting there today, whether I have disagreements with them or not, or whether they are personally interested in solving this issue.

It is not a question of persons here.

Here is the issue of Artsakh.

We do not have the right to silently watch how Artsakh, after its territorial loss and forced displacement, is now also deprived of its last property and institutional presence in Armenia.

Artsakh cannot be allowed to be finally expropriated.

We cannot allow the last traces of Artsakh statehood to be removed step by step.

We cannot allow that one day we simply record that Artsakh no longer has anything.

Aram Vardevanyan, Narek Karapetyan, Edgar Ghazaryan, Levon Kocharyan, Anna Grigoryan, Gegham Manukyan, Arega Hovsepyan, I am addressing you especially, because I have discussed this topic with you many times, and all of you are more than well aware of the situation.

In my opinion, this issue is no longer a mere legal struggle, or at least an effective struggle through legal means no longer seems realistic.

Therefore, I ask and expect your active participation in order to find a political solution to this issue.

This is not the personal issue of any person, organization or political force.

This is the issue of Artsakh.

This is the question of the dignity of the people of Artsakh.

And this is the limit beyond which silence can already have irreversible consequences.

I also remind you that during the Soviet years, the Drama Theater of Azerbaijan operated in the same building in Yerevan. I do not rule out that if the created processes continue, it may have a similar fate again in the near future. That’s why this building

Preservation of Artsakh’s property rights is not only a legal, but also a matter of historical and national significance for me.”

—