Court in Yerevan decides to arrest 2nd president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan

ArmInfo.The Court of First Instance of Shengavit District of Yerevan granted the request of the Special Investigation Service of Armenia for choosing 2-month arrest as a preventive measure against the second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan. As Kocharyan's lawyer Aram Orbelyan stated, tomorrow at 12:00 it will be announced at the press conference whether defense is going to appeal against the court's decision. Meanwhile, according to another lawyer of the second president Ruben Sahakyan, they will certainly appeal the decision of the court.

The trial session on the case of the second Armenian President Robert Kocharyan resumed today at 11:00 am. Unnoticed by media representatives, who were waiting at the main entrance of the court building from the very morning, Robert Kocharyan entered the courtroom and did not leave it for almost 8 hours. The investigation, in turn, did not disclose the name of the judge. The examination of the petition ended at around 8 pm and the court left for the advisory room for a decision. Yesterday the court session was postponed due to the fact that, according to the lawyers of the accused, Robert Kocharyan was not properly notified.

On July 26, Robert Kocharyan appeared for questioning in the SIS,  where his status was changed from witness into a "accused". The SIS  accused Kocharyan of overthrowing the constitutional order within the  criminal case on dispersal of protest actions on March 1, 2008. A  petition for his arrest was sent to the court. According to the  Armenian Constitution, during and after the end of his term, the  president can not be persecuted and held accountable for actions  conditioned by his status.

Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, after being questioned in  the SIS, in an interview to "Yerkir Media" TV channel stated that a  real bomb was placed under the statehood, reffering to the attempt to  reconsider the decision of the Constitutional Court. "The accusation  is fabricated, with political overtones and has nothing to do with  reality: this is a political persecution, vendetta, legal  surrealism," Kocharyan said. According to him, when making such an  accusation, the investigation, therefore, does not recognize the  decision of the constitutional court, the results of the 2008  presidential elections. In his opinion, attempts are being made to  reshape the history in favor of political conjuncture. They are  trying to transfer "the moods of broad sections of the population "  into the legal field, and it turns out that Levon Ter- Petrosyan, who  gained 21.5%, won in the 2008 presidential elections," Kocharyan  noted. According to the former president, this may relate to the  desire to neutralize his participation in political processes on the  eve of the early parliamentary elections. As Kocharyan pointed out,  he does not intend to avoid responsibility, "he is ready to serve the  time in jail and go to the end", since his whole biography is  connected with Armenia.

To recall, as a result of the presidential elections on February 19,  2008, the Armenian opposition led by the first president Levon  Ter-Petrosyan lost to Serzh Sargsyan. The official results of the  vote raised dissatisfaction of the supporters of the opposition  candidate. On March 1-2, as a result of a clash between protesters  and law enforcers, 10 people were killed and 200 were injured.  The  incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was a member of  Ter-Petrosyan's campaign headquarters in 2008 and one of the active  participants in the protest actions. He was put on the wanted list  and in the summer of 2009 surrendered to the authorities. On January  19, 2010  the court of administrative districts of Kentron and  Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan sentenced Pashinyan to seven years  in prison for organizing riots with a group of persons. However, in  May 2011 he was released on amnesty.