July 2014: police officers block activists from "Stand up, Armenia!" from moving towards Yerevan's Freedom Square. (c) Asatur Yesayants / VisualRIAN. All rights reserved.The Armenians who took to the streets in the country’s largest mass protests in its post-Soviet history last month had many other grievances in addition to Serzh Sargsyan’s attempt to hold onto power. The protesters were concerned about unfair elections, corruption, and the chokehold that oligarchs have on Armenia’s economy. But they were also concerned about a justice system that many see as unfair. Some high-profile incidents have sparked perceptions of politically motivated prosecutions in the country. The new prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, faces a major challenge in bringing about the changes the public demanded, including in the area of politicised justice.
Public perceptions that Armenia’s justice system is flawed are pervasive. In the 2017 annual nationwide survey by the Caucasus Research Resource Center, a non-profit independent research organisation, only four percent of respondents fully trusted the courts and 30% fully distrusted them.
