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Five members of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), a state body overseeing Armenian courts, have refused to start disciplinary action against acting SJC head Gagik Jhangiryan following an audio scandal involving him.

Ruben Vardazaryan, the dismissed SJC chairman, released last week a secretly recorded audio of his conversation with Jhangiryan, who can be heard warning Vardazaryan to resign or face criminal charges.

SJC members Grigor Bekmezyan, Davit Khachaturyan, Mesrop Makyan, Ani Mkhitaryan and Sergey Chichoyan met to discuss the matter on Thursday.

The ad-hoc commission comprising them found that “disciplinary action cannot be started against a judge or a member of the Supreme Judicial Council on the basis of an edited audio recording.”

The members of the judicial watchdog also argued that the requirement concerning the one-year period of disciplinary proceedings has been breached. The audio was recorded on February 20, 2021, but Vardazaryan released it on 20 June this year, i.e. one year and four months after the alleged violation.