7.  The applicant was born in 1945 and lives in Yerevan. He was the President of Armenia between 1991 and 1998.
8.  On 19 February 2008 a presidential election was held in Armenia. The applicant was running as the main opposition candidate, his main opponent being the then Prime Minister, Mr Sargsyan, who represented the ruling party and was a close ally of the outgoing President, Mr Kocharyan.
9.  Immediately after the announcement of the preliminary results of the election, the applicant called on his supporters to gather at Freedom Square in central Yerevan in order to protest against the irregularities which had allegedly occurred in the election process, announcing that the election had not been free and fair.
10.  From 20 February 2008 onwards, nationwide daily protest rallies were held by the applicant’s supporters, their main meeting place being Freedom Square and the surrounding park. It appears that the rallies at Freedom Square, held during the daytime and late into the night, attracted at times tens of thousands of people, while several hundred demonstrators stayed in that area around the clock, having set up a camp. The applicant participated in the rallies in his capacity as opposition leader and presidential candidate, giving speeches two to three times a day on issues of political and public interest and regularly calling on his supporters to continue the mass protests. He himself also stayed at Freedom Square around the clock, leaving only for two to three hours a day.
11.  On 23 February 2008 the outgoing President held individual meetings with the chief of police, chief of the army and chief of national security, announcing that he would not allow anybody to destabilise the situation in the country and giving instructions to that effect. The applicant alleged that, following those meetings, persecution had begun against many of his supporters. Various political and public figures who had expressed their support for his candidacy, members of his election campaign and other supporters were arrested and charged on various grounds. Furthermore, many of his supporters in the regions were subjected to ill-treatment and psychological pressure at police stations, were dismissed from work or deprived of social benefits. His telephone conversations and those of his supporters were tapped and various party premises searched.
12.  On 24 February 2008 the Central Election Commission announced that Mr Sargsyan had won the election with around 52% of all votes cast, while the applicant had received around 21% of votes.
13.  On 29 February 2008 the rallies were still in full swing, while all the international election observers had left the country. The applicant alleged that the authorities had deliberately waited for the departure of the international observers before starting their unlawful dispersal of the assembly at Freedom Square.
14.  On the same date the applicant applied to the Constitutional Court, contesting the election results and seeking to annul them.
15.  The applicant alleged that on 1 March 2008 at around 6 a.m. the police had arrived at Freedom Square. At that time he had been asleep in his car parked at the square. Most of the demonstrators who were camping there were also asleep, but news spread that the police were in the vicinity and the demonstrators began to waken. The applicant was woken by his bodyguard and walked to one of the statues situated in the centre of the square. By then the police forces had already encircled the several hundred demonstrators based on the square. They started making a loud noise by banging their rubber batons against their shields, which spread panic among the demonstrators. Some of them managed to switch on the microphones and the lights on the square, whereupon the applicant addressed the demonstrators from a platform: “We see that police forces have arrived on the square. Please, do not have any contact with them and do not touch them. Please, keep your distance from them. Let us wait and see what they want from us. If they have something to tell us, we are ready to listen. Please, be patient and peaceful”. The demonstrators followed his request and kept their distance from the police forces, which by then had surrounded the demonstrators with a triple cordon. Suddenly, without any prior warning or orders to disperse, the police forces, shouting loudly, had attacked the demonstrators, violently beating them with rubber batons and destroying the camp. In a matter of minutes the demonstrators were pushed out of Freedom Square. They tried to save themselves by fleeing from the police officers who chased, beat and kicked them brutally, regardless of their age and gender.
16.  In the meantime, the applicant, who was on the platform, was approached by the Head of the State Protection Department (SPD) of the National Security Service, who was also the chief of the Armenian President’s bodyguard team, and other SPD officers. They surrounded the applicant and his bodyguards and then forcibly took them to one of the central statues on the square, where the applicant was ordered to sit on a bench surrounded only by SPD officers. After the square was cleared of all demonstrators, the Head of the SPD approached the applicant and ordered him to leave the square. The applicant refused to comply, saying that he would not leave the square voluntarily and that they could make him do so only by arresting him. After further attempts to make the applicant leave the square failed, the Head of the SPD forced the applicant into a car and took him to his house in Yerevan. Once there, he was not allowed to leave the territory of his house and garden. The roads to his house were blocked by special police forces, SPD officers, the road traffic police and other police units. Block posts were set up and all vehicles heading to and from his house were checked and searched. No one could reach the applicant or go in or out of his home without the permission of the special forces. The special forces, after carrying out a search of visitors and their vehicles, reported their identity and the purpose of their visit to an unidentified superior and allowed visitors to go in and out only after receiving instructions from that person.
17.  It appears that, after Freedom Square was cleared of demonstrators, some of them relocated to the area near the French Embassy, where they were later joined by thousands of others who apparently poured into the streets of Yerevan in response to the events of the early morning in order to voice their discontent. It further appears that the rallies continued throughout the city until late at night, involving clashes between protesters and law enforcement officers and resulting in ten deaths, including eight civilians, numerous injured and a state of emergency being declared by the outgoing President. The state of emergency, inter alia, prohibited the holding of any further rallies and other mass public events for a period of twenty days.
18.  The Government contested the applicant’s above-mentioned allegations and alleged the following. Firstly, the reason for the police operation of 1 March 2008 at Freedom Square had been the information obtained the day before by the law enforcement authorities, according to which a large number of weapons were to be distributed to the protesters to incite provocative actions and mass disorder in Yerevan. Members of the relevant police force had arrived on Freedom Square at around 7 a.m. to verify that information, but met with resistance from the demonstrators who had attacked the police officers with wooden bats, metal rods and stones. Secondly, once violence had erupted on Freedom Square, because his security was in danger the applicant had been surrounded on the platform by the Head of the SPD and other SPD officers and taken to the edge of the square, about 20 to 30 metres away, where he sat on a bench surrounded by SPD officers. After the assembly was terminated, the applicant, who was still sitting on the bench, was advised by the Head of the SPD to go home, but he refused. During that time a journalist freely approached the applicant, interviewed him and left. The applicant was then again advised by the Head of the SPD to go home, but did not respond. An SPD car then approached and the applicant got into the car voluntarily and was taken by SPD officers to his home in Yerevan. While being taken home, the applicant did not express any wish to go elsewhere. Later in the afternoon additional SPD and police forces were stationed near the applicant’s house as part of special security measures employed on that day in respect of all persons under State protection, because of the escalating violence in Yerevan. For security reasons SPD officers were instructed to search everyone entering the applicant’s house, but they were never instructed to prohibit anyone from entering the house or to prevent the applicant from leaving. The applicant expressed the wish to leave the house and to join the demonstrators near the French Embassy only once, on 1 March. He was told by the Head of the SPD that he was free to leave and go wherever he wanted, but the SPD would not be able to ensure his security in the area near the French Embassy and they would not accompany him there. The applicant did not wish to leave the house without State protection.
19.  On 1 March 2008 the Secretary General of the Council of Europe issued the following press release:
“I am very concerned about reports of injuries during the security forces’ operation to disperse protesters in Yerevan this morning. If these reports are confirmed, all allegations of excessive force should be properly investigated. It is also vital to prevent any further violence.
I am also alarmed by the reports that the runner-up in the recent presidential elections, former President [Levon Ter-Petrosyan], has been put under house arrest. If this is true, he should be immediately released. If he is accused of committing a crime, he should be properly charged and prosecuted in a court of law like anyone else. In a democracy you cannot arbitrarily detain political opponents.”
20.  On the same day the SPD issued a statement that was broadcast on the public television channel, to the effect that SPD officers had decided to remove the applicant from Freedom Square, pursuant to Section 6 § 3 of the Act on Ensuring the Security of Persons Subject to Special State Protection, in order to ensure his safety – as a former President of Armenia subject to State protection – from any danger posed by the situation created during the police operation in the morning of 1 March 2008. The applicant had been removed from the square and taken to his house, which was similarly to be protected by the SPD, pursuant to Section 12 (2) of the same Act. Bearing in mind the necessity of ensuring the applicant’s security, as well as taking into account the fact that the applicant’s leaving his home might lead to unpredictable developments and pose a danger to his security, the SPD – in the situation which had arisen – had warned the applicant that he must categorically refrain from attempting to leave his house, indicating that otherwise the SPD could not bear responsibility for his safety, since they could not accompany him to an unlawful demonstration.
21.  On 4 March 2008 the applicant’s representative filed a request at the hearing before the Constitutional Court, submitting that the applicant was under de facto house arrest and unable to attend, and requesting that the Constitutional Court take measures to ensure his attendance. The President of the Constitutional Court replied that the applicant had three representatives at the hearing. However, if the applicant also wished to attend but was unable for whatever reason, the request would be examined and an appropriate decision would be taken.
22.  On the same date the Constitutional Court took a decision, ordering the General Prosecutor’s Office to clarify the fact of the applicant’s alleged de facto deprivation of liberty, as claimed by his representatives, and to ensure his attendance at the hearing before the Constitutional Court if he so wished.
23.  On the same date the General Prosecutor’s Office replied that the applicant was not deprived of his liberty, there were no restrictions on his freedom of movement, there was no such concept as “house arrest” under the law and he was free to attend the hearing before the Constitutional Court if he so wished. It was not the duty of the General Prosecutor’s Office to ensure his attendance.
24.  The applicant alleged that, following the decision of the Constitutional Court, he was allowed to attend the hearing on 5 March 2008 for one hour. Otherwise, his house arrest lasted without interruption until at least 20 March 2008.
25.  The Government contested the applicant’s allegations and claimed that the applicant had attended the hearing before the Constitutional Court after he had expressed the wish to do so and had been accompanied by SPD officers. After the hearing was over, he himself had asked to return home and thereafter he did not express any wish to leave his house until the state of emergency was lifted on 20 March 2008. The special SPD reinforcements were removed from the applicant’s house on 16 March 2008. Throughout that period the applicant had numerous visitors at his house, including journalists, diplomats and other persons, none of whom was prohibited from entering.
26.  On 8 March 2008 the Constitutional Court dismissed the applicant’s application of 29 February 2008.