Robert Kocharyan's Defenders Demand to Appeal to the Constitutional Court; Court Ruling to be Announced on March 1

The defenders of the second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, have submitted a petition to suspend the proceedings of the case and to appeal to the Constitutional Court.

As previously reported, during the last court session, the prosecutorial representatives presented the indictment conclusion in the case. Robert Kocharyan's defenders declared that the accusation was unclear and requested clarification, but no explanation was provided.

According to a correspondent from “Factinfo,” the court session concerning Robert Kocharyan and the former deputy prime minister Armen Gevorkyan is taking place at the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction, presided over by Judge Anna Danibekyan. During the session, Kocharyan's defenders requested to suspend the proceedings and to appeal to the Constitutional Court.

The subject of the petition is a legislative gap. Specifically, Haik Alumyann noted that the Criminal Procedure Code does not allow the court examining the case to clarify the charges presented to the defendant when they are specified in an unclear manner, while it does not impose such an obligation on the prosecutor. Alumyann stated that the fact that the court has no legal means to clarify the accusation contradicts Article 67, part 1, and Article 63, part 1 of the Constitution.

Robert Kocharyan's defender, Hovhannes Khudoyan, joined the motion, noting that the issue of clarifying the charges could have easily been resolved in the previous court session. He mentioned that they had ten questions regarding the accusation, and if the prosecutors had answered them, no one would have claimed they had overstepped their powers.

Kocharyan also made a statement, indicating that the formulations were unclear to him at the time of the indictment. He recounted that when he expressed this to the investigator, the latter replied that he had no obligation to clarify. He stated that he asked his lawyers to clarify what he was being accused of, as the charges were incomprehensible because no actions were described, yet his lawyers said they did not understand either.

“Imagine, the lawyers do not understand and do not know how to defend me. The investigator believes he has no obligation to clarify. You ask me whether it is understandable or not. If you have no obligation to clarify, why are you asking me that question?” Kocharyan remarked. “Or if no one in this courtroom has such a duty, why do you ask me that question? Is it some formal matter? I assume it is a requirement of the law, then there is a legislative gap.”

The defender of Armen Gevorkyan, Lusine Sahakyan, also joined the petition. The prosecuting attorney Gevorg Baghdasaryan opposed the motion, stating that the petition is absolutely unfounded and is subject to rejection. He explained what Kocharyan is accused of: “He is accused of receiving a large bribe. It has been detailed who transferred how much money for what purpose.”

After listening to the positions of the parties, the court retired to the deliberation room to make a decision. The court's ruling is expected to be announced on March 1 at 13:00.

According to the indictment conclusion, Robert Kocharyan is accused of using his official position during his presidency from 1998 to 2008 to facilitate actions beneficial to Silva Hambardzumyan, namely, not obstructing a transaction for the sale of 100% of the shares of a company with special licenses for the exploitation of minerals endowed by the state to a non-resident company, in exchange for a bribe equivalent to 3 million USD, amounting to 927 million AMD, received with the assistance of Samvel Mayrapetyan in February and May 2008. According to the indictment conclusion, Armen Gevorkyan is accused of receiving a bribe equivalent to 1 million USD, amounting to 309 million AMD, while managing the presidential staff and serving as the Secretary of the Security Council from February 2006 to April 21, 2008, in order to facilitate actions beneficial to Silva Hambardzumyan, while also distorting and hiding the true nature and origin of such amounts and legalizing proceeds of crime on a particularly large scale.