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The Yerevan Criminal Court of Appeals have provided the attorneys of Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan with a copy of the February 7 ruling, they said in a statement.

The defense lawyers of the former president say they are going to appeal the ruling to the Court of Cassation.

The appellate court, presided by judge Mnatsakan Harutyunyan, upheld the ruling of a lower court to keep Kocharyan in pre-trial custody and completely rejected his lawyers’ appeals.

Earlier on January 18, the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction granted the motion filed by the Special Investigative Service to extend the ex-president’s pre-trial arrest for two months and rejected the defense motion to release Kocharyan on bail, with the ruling appealed to the higher court.

Kocharyan is 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.

The ex-president strongly denies any wrongdoing, saying the charges are ‘politically motivated’.