Court of Appeals Registers Appeal Against Constitutional Court Referral of Kocharyan and Others Case

The Court of Appeals has registered the appeal of Vahe Grigoryan, the representative of the legal successors of the nine victims of the bloody events of March 2008, against the decision of Judge Davit Grigoryan to suspend the proceedings of the case against Robert Kocharyan and others and to send the case to the Constitutional Court.

However, as the case materials are not yet available, the appeal cannot be assigned to any judge. The Court of Appeals informed Azatutyun that they have already applied to the first instance court requesting the materials to be sent to them.

"Now we will write a letter; when they respond that there are no materials, it will then be determined according to the procedure how they will proceed. At this moment, we cannot report anything—whether the proceeding has been accepted or not; that is beyond our jurisdiction," the Court of Appeals stated.

Vahe Grigoryan, the legal successor of the victims, considers the decision made by Judge Davit Grigoryan to be the result of a non-competitive procedural process.

"Based on this decision, a case has been suspended that concerns not only Robert Kocharyan but also three other defendants and dozens of victims. None of their positions on this matter were consulted. That is not enough; while making the decision, it was immediately sent to the Constitutional Court, with the original materials of the case also forwarded along with it," Grigoryan emphasized in an interview with Azatutyun.

The Constitutional Court reported today that the application from the first instance court regarding the case of Robert Kocharyan and others was registered on May 20, in the second half of the day. According to the statement from the Constitutional Court, the application is currently at the preliminary examination stage.

"The preliminary examination of the application is conducted in accordance with the procedures and timelines established by the Constitutional Court's regulations," the announcement stated.

The rules of the Constitutional Court stipulate that the preliminary examination should be completed no later than 20 days after the application is registered.