This is the most disgraceful criminal case in the history of Armenia: Kocharian

“Over the course of this year, my rights have been violated numerous times. And the impression is that no opportunity for violation has been missed,” stated Robert Kocharian in court today, joining his defenders' motion.

The defense attorneys requested the unconditional release of Kocharian, basing their argument on the controversial decision of the Constitutional Court. Kocharian added, “I just want to emphasize that over this year, my rights have been violated numerous times. The impression is that no opportunity for violation has been missed. It’s as if you are driving a car and there are 10 potholes on the road; you go through all 10 potholes. The violations are so many, and it is systemic in nature. This is personalized; this is political persecution, and it is being done against a person who has been a president both in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. Sometimes you think, if such abuses can happen to a former president... For the prosecution, I understand one thing: the law is like plasticine; you can interpret it however you want. This is the current situation. In my impression, this is the most disgraceful criminal case in the Republic of Armenia; it will be mentioned in textbooks about this case and it will have its negative and positive heroes. I cannot imagine who the negative heroes will be. In this case, you are the individuals writing another page in the history of this criminal case. What that page will look like, of course, will depend on you. I have nothing more to add,” Kocharian stated.