SJC issued a reprimand to Masis Melkonyan

The Supreme Judicial Council has issued a reprimand to Masis Melkonyan, a judge of the Yerevan City Criminal Court of General Jurisdiction. The Committee on Ethics and Disciplinary Issues of Judges had applied to the SJC to subject the judge to disciplinary action.

While presenting the motion, Arman Hovhannisyan, a member of the Ethics Committee, said that Masis Melkonyan did not inform a person being interrogated as an accused of their right to remain silent. In addition, based on the interrogation of the accused, he interrogated a new witness. These actions had all been carried out by the time disciplinary proceedings were initiated against the judge in the Ethics Committee, based on the accused's application.

Melkonyan's most recent controversial decision was the detention of Archbishop Mikael.