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The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) overseeing Armenian courts on Monday unanimously dismissed judge Anna Pilosyan of the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction for “misconduct”.

The decision was announced by the SJC chair and former justice minister, Karen Andreasyan, at a meeting on Monday.

The judge was accused of delaying rulings in four civil cases for 1-2 years.

A motion for disciplinary action against Pilosyan had been filed by Grigor Minasyan, Andreasyan's former deputy who was named Armenia’s new justice minister on Monday.

All eight of nine SJC members attending the meeting backed disciplinary proceedings against the judge, but two of them, Ani Mkhitaryan and David Khachaturyan, voted against her dismissal.

Anna Pilosyan is the spouse of former Artsakh ombudsman and human rights activist Ruben Melikyan, a vocal critic of the Armenian government who defends victims of political persecution in court.

Following the SJC decision, Pilosyan took to Facebook to express gratitude to Armenia’s third President Serzh Sargsyan for her appointment as a judge, her colleagues and the entire legal community for effective cooperation.

She called the decision of the judicial watchdog “completely unfair”.

“I believe I have earned the right to announce that I am leaving as I came, with a clear conscience and my head up,” Pilosyan wrote.

Judge Yervand Varosyan denounced the “immoral” SJC decision, saying it was detrimental to Ruben Melikyan.

“The Supreme Judicial Council did not confirm the death of justice in Armenia by deciding to dismiss judge Anna Pilosyan, because it has long been the case,” he wrote on Facebook. “However, it’s absolutely immoral to dismiss Ruben Melikyan’s spouse in an effort to dismay him.”

Many other lawyers, judges and former prosecutors also condemned the decision and expressed support for the dismissed judge.

Melikyan expressed gratitude to all for their support and kind words. “

"Targeting my wife in order to hit me is an absolutely immoral step,” he said in a Facebook post. “I have been and continue to be guided by the principle of "everyone will be repaid according to what they have done", and I have repeatedly seen it work perfectly well.”