Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05YEREVAN1320
2005-07-22 06:17:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Yerevan
Cable title:  

COURT SUSPENDS SENTENCE, TRAFFICKER WALKS

Tags:  KCRM PGOV PREL AM KTIP 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 001320 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR G/TIP, DRL AND EUR/CACEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/22/2015
TAGS: KCRM PGOV PREL AM KTIP
SUBJECT: COURT SUSPENDS SENTENCE, TRAFFICKER WALKS


Classified By: CDA A.F. Godfrey for reasons 1.4 (b, d).

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SUMMARY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 001320

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR G/TIP, DRL AND EUR/CACEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/22/2015
TAGS: KCRM PGOV PREL AM KTIP
SUBJECT: COURT SUSPENDS SENTENCE, TRAFFICKER WALKS


Classified By: CDA A.F. Godfrey for reasons 1.4 (b, d).

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) A court in Yerevan sentenced Lusine Hakobyan, the
Armenian organizer of a Yerevan-Dubai
prostitution/trafficking network, to two years imprisonment.
The judge, however, suspended the sentence and Hakobyan will
instead serve one year of supervised probation. Armenian
Association of Investigative Journalists (AIJ) President Edik
Baghdasaryan claims the General Prosecutor's Office arranged
Hakobyan's surrender and quick release as part of a deal for
which court officials took bribes to guarantee Hakobyan the
reduced sentence. Baghdasaryan claims that payments for
reduced sentences are standard for court officials in
trafficking-related cases. End Summary.

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ARMENIAN COURT PROSECUTES FOR PIMPING, NOT TRAFFICKING
-------------- --------------


2. (SBU) On July 8 at the Central Yerevan Court of First
Instance, Judge Vazgen Lalayan sentenced Lusine Hakobyan to
two years imprisonment and one year probation under Article
262 of the Criminal Code for Organization of Prostitution
(pimping). Lalayan then suspended the prison sentence,
asserting that because Hakobyan surrendered voluntarily and
is the legal guardian of her minor child, she deserved
special consideration. Under Armenian law, judges may
consider mitigating factors such as voluntary surrender and
family situations during sentencing. The judgment requires
Hakobyan to report to police every fifteen days until her
twelve month probation is completed.

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MEDIA COVERAGE CRITICAL OF COURT DECISION
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3. (SBU) Armenian television and print news media (Azg,
Novoye Vremya, Aravot, Hetq and Kentron) criticized the
decision, claiming that Hakobyan's network is still active
and that she will return to her criminal activities.
Investigative reporter and Association of Investigative
Journalists (AIJ) President Edik Baghdasaryan claimed
Hakobyan's mother, Hasmik, is also a member of the
trafficking network, identifying and recruiting women and
girls from poor families in Armenian villages and arranging
their transportation to Dubai. Baghdasaryan, says the
Hakobyan case is a clear-cut example of trafficking, not
pimping, and claims the court failed to stop the network.

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JOURNALIST ALLEGES OFFICIALS COMPLICIT IN TRAFFICKING
-------------- --------------


4. (SBU) Baghdasaryan told us he believes that Aristakes
Yeremyan, an investigator in the General Prosecutor's Office,
arranged Hakobyan's surrender and quick release as part of a
deal for which court officials, in exchange for money,
guaranteed Hakobyan a reduced sentence and clean criminal
record. Baghdasaryan claims Armen Boshnaghyan, the lead
prosecutor in the Hakobyan case and a member of the General
Prosecutor's Office Special Division for Anti-Trafficking,
approved the deal. Though he could not substantiate his
claims, Baghdasaryan asserts agreements between corrupt court
officials and traffickers are common, and that Armenian
victims he interviewed said investigators in the General
Prosecutor's Office also asked them for bribes. Baghdasaryan
told us he provided GOAM Procurator General Aghvan Hovsepyan
with the names of additional investigators he believes are
complicit in other human trafficking cases.

-------------- ---
COMMENT: PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE PART OF THE PROBLEM
-------------- ---


5. (C) Testimony from victims at Hakobyan's court hearings,
which we attended, clearly included requisite elements for
trafficking charges. "Witnesses" Ruzanna Mkrtchyan, Varduhi
Shakaryan, and Kristine Stepanyan testified that Hakobyan
recruited, transported, and exploited them for forced
prostitution under threats of violence, retribution against
family members, and death if they attempted to escape. If
their allegations were true, Hakobyan's case should have
qualified for prosecution under Article 132 of the Armenian
Criminal Code, the anti-trafficking provision which
stipulates harsher penalties than the anti-pimping law.


6. (C) The prosecutor's decision to apply the anti-pimping
(rather than the anti-trafficking) code continues to raise
questions about the General Prosecutor's Office commitment to
the GOAM's anti-trafficking plan. Though Baghdasaryan cannot
provide hard evidence of his allegations of court complicity
in this and other cases, the news media's active engagement
may continue to pressure Armenian courts to increase
transparency in sentencing. Pressure may, in fact, be
building to the point that the Procurator General decides to
take action, although that remains to be seen.
GODFREY