Kocharian's Lawyers Demand Criminal Case Against Nikol Pashinyan

Lawyers of the second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharian, Hovhannes Khudoyan and Aram Orbelian, are demanding the annulment of the decisions by the Special Investigative Service and the Prosecutor's Office to refuse to initiate a criminal case against the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan.

The examination of the lawyers' complaint is being conducted in the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction by Judge Mnatsakan Martiroyan. The Special Investigative Service and the Prosecutor's Office did not appear at the court hearing. However, the court decided to proceed with the case in their absence, according to Armeniasputnik.am.

“The presented facts and actions contain elements of criminal offenses, and investigator Kostandyan’s decision is not justified,” Hovhannes Khudoyan stated during the court hearing while presenting their complaint. According to him, Nikol Pashinyan's statement on November 10 was directed against representatives of the former government.

It is worth noting that the lawyers turned to the Special Investigative Service and the Prosecutor's Office based on Pashinyan's statements made during a Facebook live stream on November 10. “These traitors to the homeland think they can leave the burden of the homeland on us, absolutely not. I call upon all worthy citizens of the Republic of Armenia to be prepared, as we will go after them, one by one, following today’s hooligans and their bosses. We will pursue the corrupt elements of the Dashnaktsutyun party. Those who sell the homeland and the liberated territories for money should not think that they will succeed under this smoke screen; it is absolutely not going to happen,” Pashinyan had stated.

The attorneys presenting the report interpret the Prime Minister's statements from the perspective of criminal law and believe that they contain elements of Article 137 of the Republic of Armenia's Criminal Code (threat of murder, serious harm to health, or destruction of property).

After listening to the applicant's position and the substance of the application, Mnatsakan Martiroyan noted that neither the Special Investigative Service nor the Prosecutor's Office had only failed to appear in court but also did not send the case-related materials, including the refusal decision and its justification, to the court.

On this basis, the judge decided to postpone the court hearing to be able to receive and familiarize himself with the position of the other side before the next session.

The next court session is scheduled for February 17.