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With the trial concerning Robert Kocharyan, we discover each day how far Armenian justice is from basic European principles such as presumption of innocence, French attorney Sevag Torossian told News.am.

“In normal democracies, to tell a judge not to make any mistake always means to put freedom first. In Armenia, it means to put in prison. With the trial concerning Robert Kocharyan, we discover each day how far Armenian justice is from European basic principles such as presumption of innocence. The judge who will enforce those principles in Armenia will enter into history,” he said commenting on the trial.

Second President Robert Kocharyan is charged with overthrowing the constitutional order in Armenia in connection with the tragic events that occurred in Yerevan in March 2008, and taking a particularly large bribe.

On May 18, a Yerevan court of general jurisdiction decided to release Kocharyan from custody, and based on the personal pledge by Artsakh Republic (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) incumbent President Bako Sahakyan and second President Arkadi Ghukasyan.

And on May 20, the same court suspended the criminal case against Kocharyan, former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and former CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov, and former Deputy Prime Minister and ex-Secretary of the National Security Council Armen Gevorgyan, and petitioned to the Constitutional Court to determine the constitutionality of some Criminal Code articles and sections that are applied regarding this criminal case with respect to overthrowing the constitutional order in Armenia, and in connection with the abovementioned events in March 2008.

The court last week extended for one month the deadline for examining this Yerevan general jurisdiction court petition on the criminal case involving ex-President Kocharyan, and the other former senior officials.