Armenia’s Court of Appeals upholds lower court judgment on remanding former president Robert Kocharyan
07.12.2018,
17:21
Armenia’s Court of Appeals has upheld today the judgment of a lower court on remanding Armenia’s former president Robert Kocharyan, his attorney Hayk Alumyan told reporters.
YEREVAN, December 7. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Court of Appeals has upheld today the judgment of a lower court on remanding Armenia’s former president Robert Kocharyan, his attorney Hayk Alumyan told reporters.
Kocharyan, who served two terms as president in 1998-2008, is charged with toppling constitutional order in collusion with other persons in 2008 March. A Yerevan district court allowed this past summer the Special Investigative Service (SIS) to detain Kocharyan for two months in pre-trial detention pending investigation. However, he was released from custody on June 13 after the Court of Appeals ruled that he could not be prosecuted for the 2008 March 1 post-election violence.
The court based its decision on Article 140 of the Armenian Constitution, which says that during the term of his or her powers and thereafter, the President of the Republic may not be prosecuted and subjected to liability for actions deriving from his or her status. That ruling was denounced by the Special Investigative Service, which described it as illegal, saying that the Court of Appeals “overstepped the bounds of its authority.”
The case dates back to late February and early March 2008 following the disputed presidential election, when then prime minister Serzh Sargsyan was declared the winner, angering the opposition, led by the first Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan and setting off 10 days of nonstop protests that led to a crackdown on March 1, in which 10 people were killed and more than 200 injured.
Alumyan said he and other defense layers had filed a number of petitions, including one requesting to replace the presiding judge Ruben Mkhitaryan, which were denied. He said the defense layers will appeal the latest ruling at the Constitutional Court to verify the compliance of articles 300 and 300.1 of Penal Code (cited to remand Kocharyan) with the basic law of the country.
The same charge is brought against Yuri Khachaturov, who had been the chief of the Yerevan garrison at the time of the bloody events. Khachaturov was detained by then released on a 5 million dram bail. Also former defense minister Mikael Harutyunyan is wanted by the law-enforcement authorities as a defendant in the case.
He is accused of illegally using the Armenian armed forces against opposition supporters who demonstrated in Yerevan in the wake of the disputed presidential election held in February 2008. -0---
Kocharyan, who served two terms as president in 1998-2008, is charged with toppling constitutional order in collusion with other persons in 2008 March. A Yerevan district court allowed this past summer the Special Investigative Service (SIS) to detain Kocharyan for two months in pre-trial detention pending investigation. However, he was released from custody on June 13 after the Court of Appeals ruled that he could not be prosecuted for the 2008 March 1 post-election violence.
The court based its decision on Article 140 of the Armenian Constitution, which says that during the term of his or her powers and thereafter, the President of the Republic may not be prosecuted and subjected to liability for actions deriving from his or her status. That ruling was denounced by the Special Investigative Service, which described it as illegal, saying that the Court of Appeals “overstepped the bounds of its authority.”
The case dates back to late February and early March 2008 following the disputed presidential election, when then prime minister Serzh Sargsyan was declared the winner, angering the opposition, led by the first Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan and setting off 10 days of nonstop protests that led to a crackdown on March 1, in which 10 people were killed and more than 200 injured.
Alumyan said he and other defense layers had filed a number of petitions, including one requesting to replace the presiding judge Ruben Mkhitaryan, which were denied. He said the defense layers will appeal the latest ruling at the Constitutional Court to verify the compliance of articles 300 and 300.1 of Penal Code (cited to remand Kocharyan) with the basic law of the country.
The same charge is brought against Yuri Khachaturov, who had been the chief of the Yerevan garrison at the time of the bloody events. Khachaturov was detained by then released on a 5 million dram bail. Also former defense minister Mikael Harutyunyan is wanted by the law-enforcement authorities as a defendant in the case.
He is accused of illegally using the Armenian armed forces against opposition supporters who demonstrated in Yerevan in the wake of the disputed presidential election held in February 2008. -0---
