A Tribute to Ruben Sahakyan, an Exemplary Patriot Who Found His Calling in Law

He always wanted to impart the knowledge he had acquired. In 1997, even before our school of advocates’ project, he took the initiative to gather and train 15 young lawyers in criminal law. These people have become prominent criminal lawyers. Until recently, they would come to see him at his home when they encountered difficulties on cases. They are now bereft of their master.

We completed the reforms of the legal practice, in particular the revision of the laws regulating the profession and its ethics, their compliance with European core principles, its consolidation through the reunification of advocates in a single Chamber of Advocates, and the establishment of the institutional training school for lawyers which was so dear to us, between 2005 and 2013. Once all those tasks completed in 2013, not only had Ruben Sahakyan negotiated the move of the Chamber offices into a more functional building but he had also prepared the transition of his power to a new bar leader.

Serving National Interests and Principles

Ruben Sahakyan had an exemplary national conscience devoid of self-interest and greed.

Our first meeting took place on the benches of the Yerevan Criminal Court in July 1995, where I was conducting judicial observation of political trials on behalf of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH). Ruben Sahakyan was heading the pool of lawyers for those accused. I was first accompanied by Michel Zavrian, one of the few courageous lawyers who had defended the militants of the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) in France of the 1960s, and then Michel Tubiana (another friend that I have just lost early October at age 67), a vibrant and effective defender of the Palestinian rights. Both immediately appreciated Ruben for his human depth and as a good professional.

Ruben Sahakyan and I remained linked to each other. Starting from 1995, he hosted me at his home and I had the privilege of sharing his family life.  Often I would land in the middle of the night but he always welcomed me with a smile and warmth. He was a man of great generosity who supported his family, relatives, friends and neighbors.

The complementarity and power sharing are the keys to an effective Armenia-Diaspora relationship and they are the result of mutual learning and mutual trust.

Serving the national interest is the most important challenge faced by Armenian nationals. For 30 years, the Armenia-Diaspora relationship has not evolved properly. In a time of defeatism and extreme demoralization, instead this is a stampede.  Each citizen of Armenia is trying to secure his or her personal future rather than the future of its country. In the diaspora, the situation is no better. Armenian organizations, increasingly fragmented, are more concerned with the continuity of their existence and focus on their traditional activities without worrying about national priorities. Individually, we have never seen and heard so many “experts” in the Diaspora. Are these analyses worth anything if they are not the result of joint reflection and consultation with domestic resources?

I became a part of the family of Ruben Sahakyan, as well as a member of his friends and professional circles; this closeness was essential for my pro bono engagement and foremost for my understanding of the problems and challenges of Armenia. I was able to observe the mechanisms and codes of this Armenian society, which are much more secret than one would imagine. I learned without judging. I just tried to understand. Conversely, Ruben took advantage of my Western education and working methods and of my networks in the diaspora to observe and learn. That was the great strength of our partnership. When we were participating in a negotiation in Armenia with the authorities or  abroad with partner bar associations, we complemented each other because we had an extraordinary level of mutual understanding.

From 2005, the date of the establishment of the current unified Armenian Chamber of Advocates, and the election of Ruben Sahakyan as its first president, we accelerated the realization of our projects. As special advisor, I was responsible for the international relations of the Armenian bar, including the elaboration and submission of the institutional project for a practice training school of lawyers, by applying for aid from the European Union.

The project was immediately accepted by the European Commission in early 2006 and budgeted. Our collaboration, however, was challenged in 2007. Having heard from Ruben Sahakyan of the circulation in the hands of an off-shore consulting company of the terms of reference of the future call for tender, I seized the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), which decided to freeze the project during the investigation.

Ruben, influenced by some jealous people, in Armenia as well as in France, began to doubt my initiative. It did not last long before he realized that my initiative had saved the project (the project was implemented and completed under the supervision of the Council of Europe between 2009 and 2012). This project and its 2.5 million euro funding attracted a lot of attention. A traditional pattern of corruption (executives from the supervisory ministry, offshore consultancy firm, and corrupt executive at the European Commission delegation) had taken hold but we successfully broke the pattern.

The list of our collaborative actions and achievements would be too long to enumerate. What is important to remember is that Ruben Sahakyan was able to overcome all the obstacles and traditional avatars of the Armenia-Diaspora relationship. He had understood what the sharing of values, principles, and responsibilities could offer Armenia. With his passing, I lost not only my brother, but also the one who made me love Armenia and wish to serve it. At a time of multiple questions in Armenian society and on Armenia-Diaspora relations, I hope that the example of Ruben Sahakyan will be a source of reflection and inspiration.

Rest in peace Ruben!  We will continue fighting for the protection of your legacy.

Philippe Raffi Kalfayan

Paris, December 13, 2021