The legal team of former Armenian Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan has announced that the European Court of Human Rights has accepted for examination a complaint filed in his case.

“The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has agreed to examine the complaint submitted by attorney Irina Danielyan concerning violations of former Armenian Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan’s rights to liberty and personal security, and has formally communicated it to the Government of Armenia, requesting its position.

The application has been accepted under the ‘well-established case-law’ procedure, which means that the issues raised concern violations for which the European Court has already developed consistent and established case-law. In other words, similar breaches have been repeatedly identified by the Court in the past, and a clear legal assessment framework exists.

The complaint concerns:

• the lawfulness of detention and the justification of its duration,
• the reasoning of court decisions,
• compliance with the principles of legal certainty and equality of arms,” the statement said.

Davit Tonoyan spent nearly three years in pretrial detention.

“At this stage, the examination relates exclusively to the alleged violations of the Convention and does not concern the issue of guilt, nor does it prejudge the outcome of the proceedings.

We also consider it necessary to emphasize that the Court of Cassation of Armenia has likewise accepted for examination a cassation appeal concerning a similar issue in the case of former Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan. However, no decision has been rendered on that appeal for more than a year. Judicial proceedings in Armenia are ongoing,” the statement added.

In September 2021, it became known that Davit Tonoyan and arms supplier Davit Galstyan had been arrested on suspicion of embezzlement on an especially large scale. Charges in the same case were also brought against former Chief of the General Staff Artak Davtyan, former Deputy Chief of the General Staff Stepan Galstyan, Head of the Aviation Technical Property Service of the Armenian Defense Ministry’s Aviation Department Artyom Hambaryan, and Chief Engineer of the Aviation Department Vladimir Babayan.

Stepan Galstyan was released in December 2023 on bail of 25 million drams, while Davit Tonoyan was released on August 15 on bail of 15 million drams.