Your trusted source

The Yerevan Criminal Court of Appeals continued on Monday the hearing the appeal of second President Robert Kocharyan against the ruling of a lower court on the ex-president’s detention measure. As the member of Kocharyan’s defense team lawyer Hayk Alumyan told reporters, the hearing of the complaint is over, and the court is set to issue the ruling on February 7.

“The hearing was held in line with all judicial norms as all the arguments brought by the defense team were discussed and the sides were given an opportunity to provide all relevant arguments,” Alumyan said, adding the outcome of the ruling is unpredictable.

To remind, the ex-president’s lawyers dispute the motion filed by the Special Investigative Service to extend the ex-president’s pre-trial arrest for two months and rejection of the lawyers’ petition to release Kocharyan on bail.

As Alumyan informed, ex-president Kocharyan was present at the hearing a presented his approach at the end of the court session, reflecting on all the points of the prosecutors.

Kocharyan has been placed in custody since December 7, 2018, pending trial. He is charged with overthrowing Armenia’s constitutional order during the March 1-2, 2008 post-election events in Yerevan. Kocharyan and his lawyers strongly deny the charges as ‘politically motivated’.