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Armenia’s  Prosecutor's Office has received the letter signed by Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan and second President Arkady Ghukasyan asking Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan to release former President Robert Kocharyan ahead of the Victory day to be celebrated in Armenia on May 9.

Sahakyan and Ghukasyan earlier said they were ready to provide any public guarantee necessary for Kocharyan’s release from custody until the end of trial.

The statement released by the Prosecutor's Office press service cites Article 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Armenia saying the detention measure can be substituted by the body which carries out the criminal proceeding.

“Since the indicated case has been submitted to the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction and the Prosecutor's Office does not act as the body which carries out the criminal proceeding, therefore the discussion of the Presidents’ letter falls outside the powers of the Prosecutor’s Office capacities,” the statement read in part.

To remind, Robert 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. Kocharyan and his lawyers strongly deny the charges as ‘politically motivated’. Kocharyan served as President of Artsakh from 1994 to 1997.