Will the Charges Against Kocharyan and Others Be Reevaluated?

The Constitutional Court has accepted the Supreme Court's petition regarding the March 1 case. According to reports from "Lurer," the Supreme Court had appealed to the higher court concerning the compliance of several articles of the Criminal Procedure Code with the Constitution in the case of the second president Robert Kocharyan, Seyran Ohanyan, Yuri Khachaturov, and Armen Gevorgyan.

The issue pertained to the third part of Article 309.1 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which was adopted in 1998 and currently partially in effect. This provision did not allow for the reevaluation of charges in court after a declaration of unconstitutionality of the article.

The higher court has determined that the article complies with the Constitution, stating that when a defendant's act is recognized as unconstitutional, the prosecutor may change the charges against the defendant before the court goes into deliberation, given the existence of characteristics of another act provided for by criminal law, regardless of the evidence presented during the trial.

This indicates that the charges against Kocharyan and other former high-ranking officials may be reevaluated.