Ex-Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, in a letter to the Reuters news agency, said that those opposed to the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan are rallying their forces and that he hopes to join their ranks.

Kocharyan, who served as president of Armenia from 1998 to 2008, has been charged with usurping state power in March 2008 and accepting US$ 3 million in bribes and is now being held in pre-trial detention.

Kocharyan told Reuters the charges against him were politically motivated and accused Pashinyan’s government of selectively applying the law to keep him in jail.

Kocharyan, in written answers to questions sent by Reuters earlier this week, said that, “This process will certainly lead to the creation of a powerful political force capable of challenging the authorities very soon.”