US Department of State’s Annual Report on prosecution of Marina Poghosyan
ARMENIA 2015 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT
During the year human rights organizations and the media reported on the continued harassment of and threats against human rights defender Marina Poghosyan. Poghosyan’s NGO, Veles, provided legal support to victims of moneylenders allegedly linked to the government. On October 5, Human Rights House Yerevan, a union of 11 human rights NGOs, released a statement asserting Poghosyan and her organization had been under pressure since Veles’ creation in 2014. In May 2014 a criminal investigation on charges of extortion was launched against Poghosyan, based on a statement by former government official Hovhannes Yeritsyan, who allegedly was involved in the moneylending. Although authorities dropped their investigation of Poghosyan, the RAIC also dropped Poghosyan’s case against Yeritsyan for filing false charges. On July 29, a trial court upheld an appeal by Poghosyan, ruling that the RAIC had to reopen the case since it had failed to conduct a thorough and objective examination. That same day, however, the committee informed Poghosyan she was under investigation for fraud. Poghosyan also reportedly received numerous threats from the RAIC. On August 9, unknown assailants tried to set fire to electrical cables at her office. On August 11, police reportedly confiscated her car on unknown grounds.
The full text of the report is available here
