Special Investigative Service (SIS) Chief Sasun Khachatryan told reporters today that it’s necessary to keep Robert Kocharyan, Armenia’s second president, in pre-trial detention because he could influence those investigating the charges levied against him.
Hours after being charged with “usurping state power” during the March 1-2, 2008 public protests in Yerevan, former deputy defense minister Yuri Khachatryan appeared in court and publicly declared that he rejected the accusation.
Armenia’s Special Investigative Service yesterday interviewed Armen Gevorgyan in conjunction with the ongoing investigation of the March 1-2, 2008 public protests in Yerevan that claimed the lives of ten individuals.
Armenia’s Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) calls the charges levied against former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan in conjunction with the March 1, 2008 public protests as “deeply troubling” and “legally ridiculous”.
The Supreme Council of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation released a statement today describing the charges levied against former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and other officials of usurping state power in March 2008 as “very troubling” and that they “can be interpreted as political persecution”.
Khachatryan was Armenia's Deputy Minister of Defense at the time of widespread demonstrations in the Armenian capital following the February 2008 presidential election that resulted in Serzh Sargsyan replacing the outgoing Robert Kocharyan.
Explaining why ex-Armenian president Robert Kocharyan didn’t show up for his court hearing today to decide whether he’s to be held in pre-trial detention, his defense lawyer, Ruben Sahakyan, told reporters that his client wasn’t avoiding appearing in court but that he must receive proper notification.
Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, who’s been charged with “usurping state power” during the March1-2, 2008 public protests in Yerevan that claimed the lives of ten individuals, has said that the newly launched court case delving into those events would be “a curse hanging over the head of the Armenian people if prosecuted in such a manner.”
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