Jailed HDP presidential candidate Demirtas to file lawsuit against Turkey’s Erdogan

June 2, 2018 By administrator

YEREVAN, JUNE 2, The lawyers of jailed pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) presidential candidate Selahettin Demirtas will file a lawsuit against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Diken reports.

During his remarks on June 1 President Erdogan commented on the appeal of the HDP submitted to the Constitutional Court according to which the party demands to release lawmaker Demirtas. “Release who? The person behind bars has the blood of 53 people on his hands”, Erdogan said as quoted by Ahval news agency.

Demirtas’s lawyers called Erdogan’s remarks as “black propaganda” and attempt to have an impact on the judiciary. The lawyers stated that Erdogan has violated the principle of presumption of innocence. They announced that they launch legal procedures against Erdogan and will file a lawsuit to receive a moral compensation.

Investors of Israeli company, selling drones to Azerbaijan, file lawsuit for $115 million

November 28, 2017 By administrator

Investors of the Israeli company Aeronautics filed a lawsuit against the company for $115 million. The suit was filed at the Tel Aviv District Court, CTech reported.

Tamar Zandberg, a member of the Israeli parliament, criticized Israel’s policies on the export of weapons and military technologies in a post to her Facebook page on Thursday.

In the post, Ms. Zandberg referred to a July incident in which Israel-based UAV manufacturer Aeronautics Defense Systems Ltd. had allegedly carried out a live demonstration of one of its suicide drones on an Armenian army post, at the request of its client, the Azerbaijani army.

In August, the Israeli Defense Ministry began investigating the allegations, which Aeronautics denied. That same month, Aeronautics reported that the Israeli Defense Ministry halted its license to export its Orbiter 1K drone to an “unnamed but prominent customer,” blocking a deal valued by the company at $20 million.

Earlier this month, the Israeli police announced that Aeronautics is under criminal investigation, concerning a deal the drone maker signed with a “key customer.” An Israeli court has issued a sweeping gag order on all details about the investigation, which has been underway since September.

In her post, Ms. Zandberg wrote that she had appealed to the Israeli Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman, requesting that he cancels Aeronautics’ license to import drones to Azerbaijan, where, she said, they could be used to fuel the ongoing conflict between Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia, violating the fragile ceasefire agreement between the two countries. Ms. Zandberg’s letter to Mr. Lieberman was included in a motion for a class action suit filed against Aeronautics by the company’s investors.

For First Time, A U.S. Court Serves a Lawsuit by Tweet

October 7, 2016 By administrator

By Nicholas Iovino, Courthouse News Service

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – In what may be a first for U.S. courts, a federal judge has authorized serving a foreign national with a lawsuit via Twitter.

In June, a California nonprofit sued two Middle Eastern banks and a Kuwaiti sheikh for allegedly funding a Christian genocide in Iraq and Syria.

St. Francis of Assisi, an Alameda-based nonprofit that assists refugees, told the court in August that it had trouble serving one of the defendants – Kuwaiti born Sunni cleric Hajjaj al-Ajmi.

Al-Ajmi, who was blacklisted as a financer of terror by the United States and United Nations, has organized Twitter campaigns to help fund the Islamic State’s systematic murder and displacement of Assyrian Christians, according to the lawsuit.

Because Kuwait is not a signatory to the Hague Convention, St. Francis could not serve al-Ajmi through a centralized authority as it can in other nations that are parties to the convention.

In a Sept. 30 ruling, U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler granted the plaintiff’s request to use an alternative method to serve al-Ajmi with the suit: Twitter.

“The court grants St. Francis’s request because service via Twitter is reasonably calculated to give notice and is not prohibited by international agreement,” Beeler wrote in her 4-page ruling.

St. Francis attorney Mogeeb Weiss, of Alameda, said he believes this is the first time a federal court has authorized serving a lawsuit by tweet.

“The plaintiff is setting up the mechanism for putting notices on the defendant’s Twitter,” Weiss said. “We will tweet it at them with a link where the summons and complaint can be obtained.”

Finding al-Ajmi’s current Twitter handle could prove challenging because many of his previous accounts have been disabled by the social media platform.

Still, St. Francis insisted in its request for an alternative method of service that al-Ajmi remains active on Twitter.

In her ruling, Beeler cited prior cases in which federal courts have approved serving foreign nationals with lawsuits via Facebook and other social media platforms.

In 2014, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia authorized serving a Turkish defendant with a lawsuit through email, Facebook and LinkedIn in the case WhosHere Inc. v. Gokham Oran, according to Beeler’s ruling.

The judge also cited another case – Federal Trade Commission v. PCCCare Inc. – in which a Southern District of New York judge approved serving a defendant business in India with a lawsuit through Facebook.

“As in WhosHere and PCCare, service by the social-media platform Twitter is reasonably calculated to give notice to and is the ‘method of service most likely to reach’ al-Ajmi,” Beeler wrote.

Weiss said he expects his client to tweet the lawsuit to al-Ajmi sometime next week.

Source: http://www.allgov.com/news/us-and-the-world/for-first-time-a-us-court-serves-a-lawsuit-by-tweet-161007?news=859573

Turkey: Lawsuit filed against nationalization of Armenian church in Turkey’s Diyarbakır

April 30, 2016 By administrator

armenian church in dyabekeer The foundation of St. Giragos (Surp Giragos) Armenian Church, which is located in Sur district of Turkey’s primarily Kurdish-populated Diyarbakır city, has filed a petition with the court that the decision to expropriate the church be declared null and void.

Ali Elbeyoğlu, an attorney of the foundation, noted that the respective lawsuit is filed against the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning of Turkey, according to Agos Armenian bilingual weekly of Istanbul.

The attorney stressed that the nationalization of this church runs contrary to the Turkish law on conservation of cultural heritage as well as to international agreements, including the Treaty of Lausanne.

According to the Turkish Council of Ministers’ decision, all structures in Sur district, including St. Giragos Church, were expropriated for “protection.”

St. Giragos, which is one of the largest churches in the Middle East, reopened as a functioning church in October 2011.

It was renovated with co-funding by Diyarbakır Armenians throughout the world, and Diyarbakır City Hall.

Geoffrey Robertson: Armenians can file a lawsuit against Germany

November 11, 2015 By administrator

Armenians can file a lawsuit against Germany, which tolerated the Genocide, thus becoming an accomplice, Geoffrey Robertson, famous British barrister and member of the team representing Armenia in ECHR case against Perinçek told Los Angeles Public TV reporter.

According to him, he expected Armenians to initiate the reparations process long ago. Robertson also pointed out to the effective ways of doing this. Specifically, Robertson said he once blamed Armenians for not initiating measures for reparations but at last Cilician Catholicosate filed a lawsuit with Turkish Constitutional Court to return the church property which the Turks illegally took away in 1915. This, according to him, was the beginning, which he hopes will have a successful end. For the further success of the reparations process, Robertson proposed to also use the the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), arguing that the occurence was a crime against humanity.

In Robertson’s words, Armenians can file a lawsuit against Germany, since Germany was an accomplice in tolerating the Genocide: it could prevent it but never did that. According to him, Serbia was held liable for the Srebrenica Genocide on the same ground, since Milošević knew what was going on but didn’t take any measures. Thus, Robertson proposed to seriously think in that direction.

Referring to the comment that Turkey is one of the main NATO states the partnership with whom is important for the West, Geoffrey Robertson said that Turkey’s value in the eyes of the West is undeniable, but the historical facts are above all. According to him, Turkey can close its airports for NATO States if they acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, but the facts are undeniable.

Robertson also explained that this was exactly the reason why he named his book “An Inconvenient Genocide,” since the fact of the Armenian Genocide causes many inconveniences to the West.

Armenian Ramifications of Cilicia Catholicosate’s Lawsuit Against Turkey

June 9, 2015 By administrator

BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

HARUT SASSOUNIAN

Armenians worldwide applauded the Cilician Catholicosate for filing a lawsuit in the Turkish Constitutional Court on April 27, demanding the return of its historic seat in Sis, Kozan district of Turkey’s Adana province. The Cilician See’s former headquarters, established in 1293, was confiscated by the Turkish government in 1921, at the culmination of the Armenian Genocide.

Catholicos Aram I announced that should the Turkish court reject the lawsuit, the Catholicosate intends to appeal the ruling to the European Court of Human Rights, which requires that all domestic legal remedies are exhausted before it considers appeals on cases filed against Council of Europe members states. Skeptics of Turkish acceptance of European Court decisions should know that the Republic of Turkey has complied with all rulings since its acceptance of the Court’s jurisdiction in 1990.

The Catholicosate’s lawsuit is a landmark case for several reasons:

— It seeks to restore partial justice for the enormous human, material, and territorial losses suffered by Armenians during the Genocide.
— It shifts “Hai Tad [Armenian Cause] efforts beyond the recognition of the Armenian Genocide into the legal sphere,” as stated by Catholicos Aram I.
— It could set a precedent for similar legal claims, as His Holiness informed The New York Times last month: “After 100 years, I thought it was high time that we put the emphasis on reparation…. This is the first legal step. This will be followed by our claim to return all the churches, the monasteries, the church-related properties and, finally, the individual properties.”

Despite the noble objectives pursued by the Catholicosate’s lawsuit, a controversy surfaced in the Armenian community last week, when several websites and newspapers reported that the Catholicosate of Cilicia had demanded that the Turkish government “either return the property of the Catholicosate of Sis or pay a compensation of 100 million Turkish Liras ($37 million).” Garo Armenian, a prominent Armenian community leader, wrote a cautionary article titled, “Our Sacred Sites are not Personal Possessions.” He stressed that “the Catholicosate’s lawsuit raises a series of important questions which must be collectively considered forthwith with prudent diligence in order to prevent any undesirable precedents.” He also urged the Catholicosate to clarify this issue if the news reports have not accurately reflected the content of the lawsuit.

I contacted last week the Catholicosate’s representatives seeking such a clarification. I was assured in an e-mail by Father Housig Mardirossian, Assistant to His Holiness Aram I, that “The lawsuit of the Catholicosate has one clear objective: The return of the Catholicosate of Cilicia.”

In response to my request for a copy of the lawsuit, Payam Akhavan, a prominent international lawyer and lead counsel for the Catholicosate, stated that “it is not possible or advisable at this stage to share the full application while it is still pending before the Turkish Constitutional Court.”

On questions regarding monetary compensation, attorney Akhavan provided the following explanation: “The fundamental claim before the Turkish Constitutional Court is that Turkey should return the Monastery and Cathedral of St. Sofia, both because of the Catholicosate’s property rights, as well as its religious significance for Armenians. The claim is not for compensation, given that this is not merely private property, but rather, property of religious and historical significance. However, I have been advised by our Turkish lawyer that under Turkish laws and procedures it is necessary, with respect to the property rights claim (and not the religious rights claim) to reserve the Catholicosate’s alternate right to seek compensation by providing a provisional amount…. But I want to emphasize that the claim is not for compensation; it is for the return of the property, to be used for religious worship and related cultural purposes.”

I contacted an independent lawyer in Istanbul who confirmed that Turkish law indeed required that a specific value be stated for a property under litigation.

Now that the financial issue is clarified, there are other important matters facing the Catholicosate and Armenians in general. Some of these questions might be a little premature, but Armenians may want to reflect upon them in order to anticipate the consequences of any eventual decisions by Turkish or European courts:

1. What would the Catholicosate do should the Turkish court or government allow the restoration of the Sis church and its use for religious worship without returning ownership of the property to the Catholicosate? Moreover, what if the Turkish government also offered monetary compensation for the repair of the church headquarters while retaining the property rights?

2. In case the Turkish Court or the European Court of Human Rights decided to return the Sis church property, would the Catholicosate relocate to its historic headquarters or continue to remain in exile in Antelias, Lebanon?

In view of the Turkish government’s recent overtures to the heads of Assyrian and Syriac churches to return to their historic headquarters in Turkey from temporary exile in Syria, Turkey’s leaders may use the Armenian lawsuit as a cover vis-à-vis their own hardliners, and make a similar offer to the Catholicosate of Cilicia.

President Erdogan may make such a gesture for three reasons:

1. To preempt a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in favor of the Catholicosate, and avoid setting a legal precedent for future Armenian lawsuits;

2. To score a public relations victory in international circles, particularly after his party’s loss of parliamentary majority in last Sunday’s elections;

3. To reap the economic benefits of foreign tourists and Armenian visitors to the historic headquarters of the Cilician Catholicosate at Sis.

Lawsuit filed against Americana at Brand over Armenian Genocide apparel controversy

March 28, 2015 By administrator

Vendor selling apparel marking 1915 Armenian Genocide claims discrimination.

By Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com March 27, 2015 | 11:00 a.m.

Alex Kodagolian, Tina Chuldzhyan and Armin Hariri, a

A cart vendor at the Americana at Brand who was allegedly told to remove displays of clothing making reference to the Armenian Genocide has filed a lawsuit against the upscale outdoor mall.

Management officials behind rap label Pentagon Records filed a complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court on March 13 and, in the document, they claim they were discriminated against by the mall’s management.

Pentagon officials started selling clothing out of a cart at the Americana in February. Shortly after setting up shop, they were reportedly told to they could not display items that read either “our wounds are still open 1915” or “we are still here 2015,” though they could still be purchased if customers asked for them.

The order stemmed from shoppers complaining about the clothing.

Americana’s management apologized on its Facebook page, claiming there was a misunderstanding and that the vendor is allowed to display the apparel in question.

However, Tina Chuldzhyan, a production manager for the record label, said in a phone interview on Thursday she has yet to hear that kind of message directly from mall management.

Until then, she said she won’t display the 1915 clothing items.

The goal of the lawsuit, she said, is to get the court to compel the outdoor mall’s management team to allow the display to resume, Chuldzhyan said.

“We want [the] Americana to do something for the community; this goes far past us … it really affected a whole community of people,” she said. “We’re trying to make sure they acknowledge they made a mistake.”

After word got out about the controversy, members of Glendale’s large Armenian community held a silent protest at the Americana, while the mall’s alleged actions drew criticism from Mayor Zareh Sinanyan.

Liz Jaeger, vice president of public relations for Caruso Affiliated, which owns the Americana, declined to comment on the pending litigation.

According to the complaint, Pentagon Records is also seeking damages, but not for itself.

“Although the complaint seeks damages, my clients intend to use the proceeds from this lawsuit to further promote recognition and awareness of the Armenian Genocide,” said Pentagon’s attorney, Richard Foster, in an email.
An order-to-show-cause hearing is scheduled for May 27.

Source: glendalenewspress.com

IPI concerned over case against Diyarbakır-based Dutch journalist

February 4, 2015 By administrator

A lawsuit has been opened against Geerdink on charges of making propaganda on behalf of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). DHA Photo

The International Press Institute (IPI) has expressed concern over reports that Diyarbakır-based Dutch journalist Fréderike Geerdink could face up to five years in prison in Turkey on accusations that she spread terrorist propaganda on social media.

In a written statement on Feb. 3, the Vienna-based IPI and its affiliate, the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), called on the Turkish authorities to drop the charges against Geerdink absent clear and compelling evidence showing that her statements specifically incited, and were likely to lead to, the commission of criminal acts.

A lawsuit has been opened against Geerdink on charges of making propaganda on behalf of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), with the prosecutor demanding between one and five years in prison. She was briefly detained on Jan. 6 as a part of an operation launched by the Diyarbakır Prosecutor’s Office. In her testimony, she pled not guilty and denied that she shared posts either praising the PKK or expressing opposition against the state, the indictment stated.

“Journalists should not face pressure – much less up to five years in prison – for sharing news or an opinion, whether it be in person, through traditional media, or via new media platforms,” IPI Director of Advocacy and Communications Steven M. Ellis said.

“We find this case troubling, not only because of the charge reportedly at issue, but because it shows a new willingness on the part of authorities in Turkey to target foreign journalists,” Ellis added.

Distracted, but not scared

Geerdink, who has reported from Turkey for almost 10 years with a special focus on the PKK and its bloody, three-decade long insurgency, told IPI that she rejected the allegations that she supported terrorism. Instead, she maintained, her “intention is always to spread the news and to comment on it.”

She also refused to be intimidated by the case against her.

“If they’re doing it to get on my nerves and distract me from my work, they’re successful. If they’re doing it to scare me, they aren’t successful. I feel strong,” she said.