Your trusted source

The defense team of Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan has received no information from the staff of the Yerevan First Instance Court regarding the recusal of judge Anna Danibekyan from the crimnal case into the alleged overthrow of the constitutional order, the lawyers said in a statement on Monday.

According to the statement, for several weeks the lawyers had been trying to find out when Anna Danibekyan would be able to get back to work and hold court hearings. At the end of last week, it became known that the judge had submitted a sick leave certificate, which expires on April 16. According to the court staff, no application for extension of the certificate has been submitted so far.

The last court hearing in the case presided over by Danibekyan took place on March 10. The court was set to hear a motion to release the ex-president on a personal guarantee on March 17, however the court hearing has failed to be held so far, the statement said.

The defense lawyers appealed to the human rights defender and the Supreme Judicial Council, stating Kocharyan is at-risk group amid the coronavirus outbreak. The human rights defender shared the concerns that the raised issue was the result of incomplete legal regulations and appealed to the Supreme Judicial Council to clarify its official position.

The lawyers also filed a number of lawsuits demanding the prevention of human rights violations, in particular, inhuman treatment and torture against Robert Kocharyan.