A few days ago, the Yerevan Civil Court ruled against the "Orran" charitable organization regarding illegal construction in the vicinity of the "Orran" center.Euromedia24talked with "Orran" founder Armine Hovhannisyan to understand what they are going to do after this court decision.
- During the last year, you have fought against illegal construction in the neighborhood of the "Orran" charity center, investing considerable time and material resources you decided to choose this fight.
- I think that it is the duty of every citizen to fight for legality and justice, regardless of the size of the problem. For the last 30 years, we have always fought against injustice, whether it is violations of the law or the violation of the law.
Unfortunately, many citizens understandably think that "it is always the fault of the strong" and prefer not to intervene. But this is exactly what the lawbreakers want. The struggle is inevitable, and I personally try to set an example for my children for showing that one should always fight for justice.
Today, when our motherland is facing the danger of loss and war, and the pain of losing Artsakh forces us to rethink many things, I understand that this struggle may seem small to many. But, as the Chinese proverb says, "every long journey begins is from the first step." This struggle is a small but extremely important step for me on the way to making our country legal.
- When you started the trials, did you believe you could beat a developer who seems to have good connections?
- When we started the trial, I was convinced that the law was on our side and "Orran" would win legally. Wasn't the issue very clear? the law requires a distance of six meters, and the developer was violating that standard.
But my faith was shaken when the municipality suddenly decided to organize tree cutting to "clean up" the area. For thirty years no interest or care was shown to the area, but suddenly they decided that the big and green tree that was right in the center of the area was disturbing. construction, is "too old" and should be cut It was clear that there are serious interests behind the construction.
The site had been derelict for 30 years, but the municipality decided to spend public funds on removing the "old trees" despite the fact that the site was not even occupied.This not only angers, but also suggests that powerful patrons may be involved.
- You filed a lawsuit both in administrative and civil court, claiming that the construction does not meet the standards set by the law. What stage are the legal proceedings at now?
"Unfortunately, we lost in both courts, mostly on baseless grounds. But we are not giving up. We have decided to appeal the civil court's decision and will continue the fight for justice."
