Sedrak Kocharyan, son of Armenia’s second president Robert Kocharyan, has filed a lawsuit against the Republic of Armenia

Kocharyan is demanding recognition of the violation of his presumption of innocence and compensation for non-pecuniary damage in the amount of 2 million drams.

The case dates to 2019 when Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) issued a statement claiming that it had irrefutable evidence directly linking Sedrak Kocharyan to a money laundering and tax evasion scheme.

The NSS, in its statement, claimed that Kocharyan created a dummy company to launder US$5.3 million and thus evade paying taxes of 916.7 million drams.

The NSS said that Kocharyan then deposited the money in his personal bank account, legalized several transactions and exchanges, and used the money to purchase the Best Western Congress Hotel in Yerevan.

Hayk Alumyan, Kocharyan’s lawyer, tells Hetq that the crux of the lawsuit is based upon a TV interview made by the state prosecutor while the trial was underway claiming there was irrefutable evidence that Kocharyan was guilty of the charges.

Alumyan argues this is a classic example of the violation of the presumption of innocence and hopes the courts will take this circumstance into account and make an appropriate ruling.

Kocharyan has consistently labelled the charges a fabrication and has lashed out at the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for waging an unsubstantiated campaign of lies and slander targeting his family.