Gagik Khachatryan’s defense team has filed an application for urgent measures with the European Court of Human Rights. The defense team reports: “The application asks the European Court to order the Armenian government to immediately release Gagik Khachatryan, to refrain from the practice of continuously moving him from place to place on a stretcher, and to lift the ban on absence as a preventive measure so that he can travel abroad to receive the required treatment.
He has been in custody since September 2 and, despite his inability to move independently, is being held in the Yerevan-Kentron Penitentiary Institution. The petition to ensure a visit from a doctor has remained unanswered to this day. The process at the ECHR began in 2019 under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, within the framework of the absolute prohibition of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment. In 2020, the ECHR applied an urgent measure, requiring the Armenian government to ensure Khachatryan's medical care in detention, and if that is not possible, to ensure his transfer to a civilian hospital.
In 2024, a complaint was also filed with the ECHR regarding the violation of the right to life guaranteed by Article 2 of the Convention, in connection with which the ECHR briefly began its trial in the case. Currently, the ECHR is examining both complaints together. Former Minister of Finance of the Republic of Armenia and former Chairman of the State Revenue Committee Gagik Khachatryan has been a defendant in a number of criminal proceedings since 2019, including in the case of receiving a particularly large bribe. He does not admit the charges, and there is no final judicial act in the cases. In parallel with the seven-year-long criminal process, his health condition has continuously deteriorated, while treatment has been mainly limited to symptomatic interventions. Khachatryan was diagnosed with spinal stenosis in 2015, and the implant installed in the cervical spine, according to the defense, has shifted, causing severe pain with any movement. He also has diabetes, shoulder joint and heart problems. According to the assessment of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, he has been assigned a severe degree of functional limitation of 66 percent, and he has been recognized as a person with a disability. He can no longer move independently.
The need for surgery has been documented in various years by medical examinations and the conclusions of more than a dozen local and international consuls. Khachatryan has been allowed to travel abroad for treatment several times. Each time he returned within the specified time frame, did not hinder the trial, and during that time no court hearing was postponed due to his health condition. However, his departure for the necessary surgery was continuously blocked. In April 2025, the court again allowed him to travel to Germany, but immediately after the decision, an exit ban imposed in another criminal proceeding prevented his departure. As a result, the person who has not received the necessary surgery for seven years and has lost the ability to move independently is again in custody. After the intervention of the Human Rights Defender, a caregiver was provided, but the problem has not been resolved. On the instructions of the Human Rights Defender, a group of staff representatives visited the penitentiary institution. A private interview was held with Gagik Khachatryan, and his medical care, care, and detention conditions were examined. The issues raised within the scope of the Ombudsman's competence have already been addressed to the competent bodies, and some of them are being resolved. "We are grateful to the Human Rights Defender and the human rights community for their quick response.
This response had practical significance. After the mediation of the Human Rights Defender, a caregiver was provided for Gagik Khachatryan. However, the threats to his life and health have not been eliminated. A timely and consistent response can prevent irreversible consequences, and in such situations, also save lives, preventing the establishment of a dangerous and shameful precedent,” the defense team notes. Human rights defenders warn of a dangerous precedent for human rights violations Gagik Khachatryan’s advocacy group published footage of his transfer and participation in the court session for the first time the day before. The defense lawyers noted that they had previously refrained from publicizing Khachatryan’s health condition, respecting his and his family’s private lives, but resorted to this step after all available domestic legal remedies had been exhausted. The published footage caused a wide response. Lilit Galstyan, Chairwoman of the NA Standing Committee on Human Rights Protection and Public Affairs, assessed the incident as torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, emphasizing that it cannot be justified for any purpose of criminal prosecution.
The “Disability Rights Agenda” NGO recorded that the transfer was carried out in inappropriate conditions and was accompanied by obvious physical suffering. The organization demanded to ensure medical supervision, professional accompaniment, and reasonable accommodations arising from Khachatryan’s functional condition. Human rights activist Vardan Harutyunyan emphasized that justice does not imply humiliation, torture, or revenge, and Zhanna Aleksanyan, president of the “Journalists for Human Rights” NGO, called the published footage “sadism without borders.” Without referring to the comments made, we present to the legal community the dynamics of the deterioration of Gagik Khachatryan’s health, according to public sources. In the photos, Khachatryan is in 2014, when he was appointed minister, in 2024, in a wheelchair, and in 2026, on a stretcher. "After his detention in 2019-2020, he attended court hearings first with a cane and then in a wheelchair. He is 71 years old."
