There Are 3-4 People Who Had Contact With Me During That Week, Says Kocharian

The second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharian, addressed concerns in court today regarding the possibility of influencing or obstructing judicial proceedings while being at liberty. Addressing the presiding judge Anna Danibekyan, Kocharian stated, "The lawyers have said there is no such evidence, but since you are fairly well acquainted with the criminal case, there is also no subject on which to influence anything to change. You also have the criminal case. In the entire criminal case, there are only two or three episodes related to me; the first is the meeting with the high-ranking military personnel at the presidential office on February 23. Twelve to thirteen people have been interrogated, and about 25 people were present. There was no discussion; I simply made a statement. There are testimonies from 13 people; it will take you 40-50 minutes just to familiarize yourself with those testimonies and to ascertain whether I need to have any motivation to change anything or not."

The second President indicated that if the judge could allocate that time, he could also provide her with the testimonies by volumes, as he realized it is quite challenging to search through 80 volumes. "There is no need," the judge responded. "Is there not? Well, then you won't be reading it; that's how I understood it," Kocharian remarked.

He further stated that there are another 3 or 4 individuals who had contact with him during that week, either by phone or in person. "Of the 850 witnesses, only those are the ones who saw me physically or had contact with me. One of these 3-4 people is Tigran Torosyan, the Chairman of the National Assembly, with whom I coordinated and discussed the state of emergency decree. Also present at the meeting was Serzh Sargsyan as Prime Minister, with whom I called and coordinated the decree. Hayk Harutyunyan, the Police Chief, mentioned in his testimony that he had informed me about certain actions. Finally, there is Armen Gevorgyan, who was tasked with preparing the decree on the state of emergency. In the entire content of these volumes, there is no one outside of this circle who has seen or had any contact with me—directly, indirectly, by phone, or through intermediaries," Kocharian concluded.