Hate Towards LGBT+ Community as an Aggravating Circumstance. Precedential Judgement

On 3 February 2024, a group of people planned together and attacked an individual, inflicting moderate injuries with a knife or other sharp object. The attack was motivated by hatred toward the victim based on their sexual orientation. 

This case represents the first instance among dozens of similar cases documented by the organization over the years in which law enforcement authorities took the hate motive into account during the legal qualification of the offence and the investigation of the case, directly linking it to the victim’s sexual orientation. It is also noteworthy that the response demonstrated in this case was connected, to some extent, with the fact that the victim was a United States citizen. 

During the criminal proceedings, the investigative authority included in the charges the fact that the offence had been committed with a motive of hatred and intolerance toward a gay person. The prosecutor approved the indictment, and the case was referred to the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan City. 

Following the examination and assessment of the evidence presented during the trial, the Court found the charges under Article 167(2), Points 7 and 15 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia to be substantiated and issued a guilty verdict.

On 23 April 2026, the Court sentenced the defendants to 2 years and 6 months of imprisonment. 

At the same time, it is important to emphasize that this case remains a precedent in circumstances where dozens of other cases involving violence and hate-motivated offences against LGBT+ people have not been effectively investigated, and where hate motives are frequently disregarded by law enforcement authorities. Distrust toward the law enforcement system among LGBT+ people continues to constitute a serious and concerning issue, stemming both from ineffective investigations and from a deeply entrenched climate of impunity that has persisted for many years.