Robert Kocharyan to remain in detention pending trial
07.02.2019,
12:45
The Armenian Court of Appeal just declined the motion filed by lawyers of Robert Kocharyan, a former Armenian president, Armenian Prosecutor General Vahagn Muradyan told journalists.
YEREVAN, February 7. /ARKA/. The Armenian Court of Appeal just declined the motion filed by lawyers of Robert Kocharyan, a former Armenian president, Armenian Prosecutor General Vahagn Muradyan told journalists.
The lawyers had filed the motion demanding to void the first instance count’s decision to extend their client’s pretrial detention for another two months.
“The court has unveiled the decision – all the complaints of Kocharyan’s lawyers were completely declined, and he will remain detained,” he said. “We have not received the court’s decision – only the final part was read out.”
Kocharyan, who served two terms as president in 1998-2008 and is charged with toppling constitutional order in collusion with other persons in 2008 March.
Kocharyan had been detained in 2018 summer 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. --0---
The lawyers had filed the motion demanding to void the first instance count’s decision to extend their client’s pretrial detention for another two months.
“The court has unveiled the decision – all the complaints of Kocharyan’s lawyers were completely declined, and he will remain detained,” he said. “We have not received the court’s decision – only the final part was read out.”
Kocharyan, who served two terms as president in 1998-2008 and is charged with toppling constitutional order in collusion with other persons in 2008 March.
Kocharyan had been detained in 2018 summer 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. --0---
