Video: I Thought They Would Demand Life Imprisonment, Only 7-12 Years – Kocharyan

Of course, I am ready for imprisonment. If I were not ready, I would not be here today. This was stated by the second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, during a press conference.

Recall that recently, prosecutors published the indictment concerning Robert Kocharyan and former Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan at the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction. The article attributed to Kocharyan foresees a punishment of 7-12 years of imprisonment.

Kocharyan jokingly responded that it is only 7-12 years, as he had thought they would demand life imprisonment, and later added that he has already spent 2 years in jail, so there is nothing left.

Referring to the charges brought against him, Kocharyan noted that his defenders recently mentioned that as lawyers, they do not understand what he is accused of.

“When I was accused under the features of overthrowing the constitutional order, all my property and accounts were immediately seized, whereas they had no right to do that since that article does not imply property liability. They illegally held my property under arrest, and we have reached the point in courts where that arrest has been recognized as illegal. The court could not issue any other decision because that article simply does not provide for an arrest on property,” said Kocharyan, recalling the Investigative Committee's position, which claimed that they noticed movements in Robert Kocharyan's accounts operationally. “Are you a state or what are you? What does it mean - operationally? That document and the person who signed underneath it should be held criminally liable, and that time will come,” Kocharyan emphasized.

Kocharyan reminded that the second charge (regarding bribery) was brought up rather hastily, at the last minute, to continue the property seizure.

“A woman named Silva Hambardzumyan, who is quite well-known, whom I do not know, I had no idea about her existence at all until this criminal case. I didn’t know that there is a personality named Silva Hambardzumyan in nature. She had some sort of license for mineral exploration. It is said that she wanted to resell that license to someone and offered me, Serzh Sargsyan, and everyone else a thank you or a bribe... At that time, there was no requirement for a permit to resell the license legally. Now she says she offered money to not disturb her, to not hinder her. When asked if she was obstructed, she said no, they didn’t disturb her; she just thought that they might hinder her, and to avoid that, she offered money,” Kocharyan pointed out, emphasizing that it is simply absurd, and there is no description in the indictment of what he actually did.