5.  The applicant was born in 1946 and lives in Yerevan.
6.  On 2 January 2007 M.G. and V.G., two elderly sisters, were found dead in V.G.’s apartment, where they lived together following which the prosecution started an investigation into their death. It appears that the applicant had known V.G., who had drawn up a will on 5 April 2006 according to which she had bequeathed her apartment to the applicant.
7.  On the same day forensic medical examinations, including autopsies, were ordered to determine, inter alia, the cause of death of the two sisters.
8.  On 2 February 2007 the expert A.D. issued two opinions (nos. 22 and 23). According to the first one, M.G. had died as a result of acute heart failure brought about by low body temperature while opinion no. 23 stated that V.G. had died as a result of hypothermia.
9.  On 9 February 2007 the prosecutor decided to terminate the investigation. Relying on forensic medical opinions nos. 22 and 23, the prosecutor found that the sisters’ death had not been intentional or caused by negligence.
10.  On 14 February 2007 the applicant submitted V.G.’s will to the notary and gave his acceptance to inherit her apartment.
11.  On 1 June 2007 M.G. and V.G.’s niece applied to the prosecutor’s office, stating that although V.G. had bequeathed the apartment to her by the will certified by a public notary back in 1991, she had been informed that the applicant had submitted another will in respect of the same apartment according to which the apartment was to pass down to him. She alleged that her aunt’s signature had been forged on that will.
12.  It appears that on 11 July 2007 additional post-mortem forensic medical examinations following the exhumation of the bodies of M.G. and V.G. were ordered to determine, inter alia, whether forensic opinions nos. 22 and 23 had correctly determined the causes of their death and, if not, whether it was possible that they had died as a result of having been poisoned.
13.  On 7 August 2007 the investigator decided to start an investigation on account of forgery.
14.  It appears that at some point during the investigation the applicant stated that he had never visited the apartment where M.G. and V.G. had lived and did not know its location. Sometime in 2006 V.G., whom he knew, had visited him in his home to hand over some documents to him, namely a will and other documents from the notary informing him that she had bequeathed her apartment to him.
15.  On 25 September 2007 G.H and A.B. delivered expert opinions nos. 13/631/K and 14/630/K according to which both sisters had died as a result of poisoning by compounds containing phosphorous.
16.  On 26 September 2007 the applicant was charged with fraud and two counts of murder committed for gain. The following day he was detained.
17.  On 21 December 2007 a forensic technical and toxicological examination was completed. The results of the applicant’s psychiatric and psychological forensic inpatient examinations were received on 8 February 2008. Three experts G.H., A.D. and M.A. gave expert statements on 6 December 2007, 25 January and 5 February 2008 respectively.
18.  On 26 May 2008 further post-mortem forensic medical examinations on additional exhumation of the bodies of M.G. and V.G. were ordered, and they were completed on 27 June 2008. Expert opinions nos. 12/525/K and 13/526/K delivered by S.H. and S.S. confirmed the presence of phosphorous compounds in the bodies of the two victims.
19.  On 8 July 2008 the applicant’s case was transferred to the Yerevan Criminal Court for trial.
20.  At the hearing of 26 August 2008, the opinions of all expert witnesses were read out aloud. The applicant then orally requested for a possibility to have examined, in court, the expert witnesses A.D., S.H. and S.S., who had delivered the conflicting opinions, in order to clarify a number of issues that required specialist knowledge. The court decided to adjourn the case.
21.  At the hearing of 25 September 2008, the applicant’s representative requested again the examination of the expert witnesses but his request was orally rejected by the trial court judge. The judge reasoned this decision by stating that as the subsequent expert opinions already explained the content of the first opinion issued by A.D., it was not necessary to call the expert witnesses.
22.  On 21 October 2008 the Yerevan Criminal Court found the applicant guilty of two counts of aggravated murder committed for gain and sentenced him to life imprisonment. In doing so, it mostly relied on the trial statements of the victims’ relatives and neighbours, who confirmed that the applicant had visited the sisters in their apartment several times; on the expert opinions; and on material evidence seized from the applicant’s apartment, namely the originals of the ownership certificate in respect of V.G.’s apartment, V.G.’s will drawn up on 5 April 2006 and a duplicate of V.G.’s death certificate. In finding the applicant guilty, the trial court also took into account the fact that he had previously been convicted of murder carried out for financial gain for killing an elderly woman to obtain possession of her apartment.
23.  The applicant lodged an appeal arguing, inter alia, that he had been deprived of the opportunity to examine the experts with regard to their contradictory opinions.
24.  On 12 February 2009 the Criminal Court of Appeal rejected the applicant’s appeal without addressing the complaint about his inability to have the experts examined during his trial.
25.  On 2 July 2009 the applicant lodged an appeal on points of law, raising similar complaints as before.
26.  On 28 July 2009 the Court of Cassation declared the applicant’s appeal inadmissible for lack of merit.