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Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan on Tuesday again denied bribery charges levelled against him as “absurd”.

Speaking at a court hearing in the case, he claimed the accusations “have nothing to do with reality”, his legal team said.

Kocharyan is accused of having been bribed by businesswoman named Silva Hambardzumyan while in power.

"Of course, I do not plead guilty. I consider the accusations not only absurd, but also unrelated to reality. I do not know anyone named Silva Hambardzumyan at all. I don't understand why the prosecution decided that I had administrative and management functions. There is a constitution, which clearly defines my powers. And I don't understand which of the powers I have used or haven't used. The president of Armenia doesn't even have control over the budget of the presidential staff. No president in any country is vested with such authority," Robert Kocharyan said.

The ex-president claimed he did not understand what the charges were about because the granting of a license under the law in force at the time did not require a state decision, nor did it require any of the state officials to give their consent.

"In essence, the accusations are a result of one person's imagination. It is a classic example of a political order. The charges were brought at the last minute, immediately after the charges of alleged overthrow of the constitutional order were dropped. The purpose was the same: since that article did not imply property obligations, everything had to be done to attch those obligations. It has now been done through this provision," he said.