It's a vetting process, and I believe it's degrading for a judge. Judge Arshak Vardanyan

My resignation could be seen by the public as a sign of weakness. This was stated by Arshak Vardanyan, a judge of the Court of Appeals of Armenia, in an interview with NEWS.am, responding to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's speech today.

“One thing is for sure, as a judge, I will categorically refuse to participate in any degrading process, even at the cost of losing my position,” he said.

When asked about what he means by a degrading process, Vardanyan said, “Whether it's vetting or what, I believe it is a degrading process for a judge, this is solely my opinion, and I do not wish to offend my colleagues who may have a different opinion, but who are those who will be asking us these questions, and is it normal to hear and respond to such questions? I am convinced it is not,” he said.

Vardanyan mentioned that he had long had intentions of moving on to other work, but these intentions are not related to recent events or the changes that occurred in April 2018.

It is noted that Arshak Vardanyan was appointed as a judge of the Court of Appeals of Armenia by a decree of the President of Armenia on October 24, 2018. Prior to that, he worked at the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan.