A court in Armenia has ordered police to reinvestigate a 2018 case in which 30 homophobes brutally assaulted nine LGBT+ activists.
The country’s Criminal Court of Appeals has ruled that authorities failed to adequately investigate the horrific attack in Shantukh in Armenia’s southernmost Syunik province, which left two queer activists in hospital.
The ruling, which was made in August, found that the victims’ rights were violated when investigators chose to not prosecute the perpetrators in the attack.
Pink Armenia, an LGBT+ rights organisation, had previously appealed to the prosecutor and to the First Instance Court of Syunik to have the assailants prosecuted – but their concerns were rejected.
The Criminal Court of Appeal’s ruling vindicates queer activists in the country, who have spent the last two years fighting for the aggressors to be prosecuted.
In a statement, Pink Armenia said the court made its ruling after considering the “severe mental suffering” the victims experienced.
The court also found that the LGBT+ activists were targeted by the group of 30 because of their sexual orientation.
“We hope that this decision will finally force the investigation body to resume the preliminary investigation and to start examining the real motive of the crime,” the group said.