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The Yerevan Criminal Court of Appeals, presided over by judge Arsen Nikoghosyan, is hearing an appeal of former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan’s lawyers against the ruling of a lower court to reject the defense motions for his release pending the outcome of the trial.

Tigran Yegoryan, a lawyer representing the aggrieved party in the case concerning an alleged overthrow of the constitutional order, had asked the court to postpone the hearing, arguing that he had not been notified of it and had not received a copy of the defense appeal.

However, the judge decided to proceed with the hearing taking into account the fact that it concerns an issue of a person’s right to freedom, as well as the court’s heavy workload.

"The court is considering an issue about whether the public interest prevails over the right of the given person to freedom or vice versa. During the examination of this issue, the aggrieved party has no legal interest. Therefore, the request to postpone the hearing of the appeal based on the applications of the aggrieved party is unlawful. There is a public interest that is presented by prosecutors here, and there is an interest of a person’s freedom, which is represented by the defense,” one of Kocharyan’s lawyers Hayk Alumyan stressed.

Aram Vardevanyan, another defense lawyer, shared his colleague's position, stating that the matter was subject to immediate examination.

Hovhannes Khudoyan, another member of Kocharyan’s legal team, noted that it was Tigran Yegoryan’s right, rather than duty, to participate in the hearing.