The Constitutional Court has decided to reject the motion in the case of Robert Kocharyan

The Constitutional Court has decided to reject the motion filed by Robert Kocharyan's lawyer, Aram Vardevanyan, regarding the suspension of the operation of Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia, submitted on June 25.

The decision states: “Based on Robert Kocharyan's applications, regarding the issue of compliance of Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia with the Constitution,” the motion filed by the representative of the applicant, the lawyer A. Vardevanyan, to suspend the operation of Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, on June 25, 2019, was rejected for the following reasons: 1) the applicant was required to provide evidence in this motion, which would substantiate the possibility of severe consequences for the applicant or the public if a decision to suspend the contested provisions was not accepted, while no such evidence was presented by the applicant. Moreover, the issue raised by the applicant regarding the inconsistency of the contested provisions with the Constitution should be clarified through court proceedings. 2) Considering that the suspension of the contested provision of the Criminal Code would lead to the suspension of any criminal proceedings and prosecutions based on that contested provision, the Constitutional Court finds that very serious grounds are necessary to demonstrate irreversible or severe consequences for the applicant or society. However, given the presence of the applicant's detention and the alleged violation of his fundamental rights, such consequences cannot arise for the public, while the applicant has the right to file a cassation complaint regarding the legality of his detention; thus, no irreversible or severe consequences can arise for him either.”