Yerevan court starts considering eviction of Emma Tunyan family, whose rights violation was recognized by ECtHR

After the July 2 decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the First Instance Court of Yerevan starts reconsidering the case of the family of Emma Tunyan, who was evicted from her house back in 2003. This is reported by the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC).

In 2003, the Armenian authorities notified Emma Tunyan's family that their house located in Byuzand Street in Yerevan was withdrawn "for state needs." The family tried to challenge the decision in Armenian courts; however, they lost the household and the land plot without any compensation from the state.

In 2005, the Tunyan family appealed to the ECtHR; and in 2012, the court in Strasbourg ruled that the alienation was carried out with violation of the family's property rights. In particular, it violated the right to peaceful enjoyment of one's possessions (Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the residents of Byuzand Street in Yerevan, whose houses had been expropriated for state needs, said in 2013 that they could not get their due housing for more than eight years.

Earlier, in April 2006, the actions of the authorities of Armenia on alienation of citizens' property within the framework of building up the downtown of Yerevan were deemed to be unconstitutional.