By creating artificial obstacles, the citizens of Artsakh are deprived of the right to vote in every possible way. Roman Yeritsyan

A little while ago, Artsakh lawyer Roman Yeritsyan held a press conference, once again speaking about attempts to violate the right of Artsakh citizens to participate in the elections of the National Assembly.

He said that although the claim of three Artsakh residents was satisfied as of May 29, 2026, the court obliged the Migration and Civil Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to include those Artsakh residents in the voter list. However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs published on its official Facebook page, announcing that the administrative court is not competent to examine such issues and there is no such verdict.

“In other words, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announces on its Facebook page that the administrative court does not have the authority to examine such cases.

I make a statement in the corresponding comment and on my Facebook page: yes, the decisions were made by a civil court, not an administrative court, followed by a complaint filed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs seconds later.

In the appeal, the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not talk about the right to vote of an Artsakh citizen, but says: you know, the cases are subject to the administrative court, not the civil one.

The same Ministry of Internal Affairs, which hours before filing an appeal, publishes a statement on its official website that according to them, the administrative court is not authorized to examine such claims and make such judgments, but by submitting the appeal to the appeal court, they say the opposite, that the case should have been examined by the administrative court.

And it was not for nothing that they are not talking about whether an Artsakh citizen has the right to vote, but about the cases not being subject to examination by the civil court,” said the lawyer.

According to him, the existing judicial practice and laws indicate that all such cases should be examined by the civil court. The Code of Administrative Procedure clearly states that disputes related to the voter list are subject to examination in the civil court, and these decisions come into force from the moment of publication and are not subject to appeal or review.

The lawyer listed the names of the judges who in 2021 satisfied the demand of the people of Artsakh, and now those same judges, moving to the appellate court, are examining the appeals presented against the judicial acts of the same content they had previously made, and they accept proceedings and make a decision that similar cases are subject to examination in the administrative court.

“This is absurd, what has changed with the judge? If there was a legislative change, we would consider this logical and legal,” said the lawyer.

He does not rule out that if the people of Artsakh apply to the administrative court, the administrative court will forward the claim to the civil court, noting that it does not accept such cases.

“The civil court will also say: I also think that the administrative one is subject to investigation. The judge of the first instance has the right to appeal to the Court of Cassation, so that the issue of subordination is resolved by this court. The Court of Cassation will also accept proceedings, publish the decision after June 7, and the people of Artsakh will be deprived of their passive electoral right, the right to participate in the elections as a voter.

For me, the decision made by the appellate court is absurd, moreover, it is a decision made at lightning speed. It is absurd, it does not fit into the legal logic, and what is painful for me is that these decisions are made by the judges who made the opposite decision in 2021,” said the lawyer.

He said that he sees a political context, the change of opinions of judges Sahakyan and Bazmanyan is due to this.

The lawyer from Artsakh mentioned that they are creating every artificial obstacle so that the people of Artsakh cannot participate in the elections, because they are afraid that they will not vote for the government, but will vote for any opposition force, but not for the government.

He said that he will appeal the decision of the appellate court and will also appeal to the Central Electoral Commission.

According to the lawyer, 50 Artsakh residents have already applied to the court, and 5 thousand Artsakh residents have applied to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to be included in the voter lists.

Nune AREVSHATIAN