Your trusted source

Lawyers of Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan, who is standing trial for the March 1-2, 2008 post-election events in Yerevan, asked judge Armen Danielyan of the Criminal Court of Appeals to recuse himself from the high-profile case, accusing him of bias.

The court is hearing prosecutors’ appeal against a lower court’s decision to provide the full materials of the criminal case to the ex-president’s attorneys.

Earlier in June, the appellate court, under presiding judge Armen Danielyan, overturned a lower court’s ruling to free Kocharyan from prison pending the outcome of his trial. Kocharyan had been released on 18 May upon the personal guarantees offered by Artsakh’s current and former presidents.

Moreover, the judge did not allow Kocharyan’s lawyers to object to the prosecutors’ demand, cutting short the court hearing.

At Friday’s hearing, lawyer Hovhannes Khudoyan claimed he judge, whose actions openly showed aversion, cannot impartially examine the case concerning the violation of his client’s rights.

“We are dealing with an appeal which not only strongly concerns the interests of my client but also represents a public interest. We are considering an appeal which will make it clear whether Armenia is interested in conducting a thorough and comprehensive investigation into March 1 case or whether the investigation should be directed,” Khudoyan stated.

Another Kocharyan lawyer Aram Vardevanyan said: "You did something which hadn’t found place in the practice of the Armenian legal system by depriving the defense of the opportunity to express its position in case when it concerned the defense itself. You weren’t even interested in the position of the defense."

Prosecutor Petros Petrosyan opposed the defense motion, arguing it lacks any grounds for judge’s recusal envisaged by the Judicial Code and Criminal Procedure Code,

The judge left for the deliberation room to make a decision which will be announced on February 3, at 10am.