Armenian investigators refuse to stop prosecution of Kocharyan

The investigator would not agree with the statement of Robert Kocharyan's advocates, who believe that the second president of Armenia cannot be charged under an article that was not in the country's Criminal Code in 2008.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Robert Kocharyan was arrested on July 27, 2018, and charged with financial crimes and the overthrow of the constitutional order in connection with the dispersal of protests in Yerevan ten years ago.

The investigator of the Special Investigation Service (SIS) of Armenia has denied the motion to stop Robert Kocharyan's criminal prosecution, submitted by his lawyers on January 9, says the today's statement of the Kocharyan's group of advocates.

"The motion noted that the charge put forward against Robert Kocharyan under Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia is illegal," the "News-Armenia" Agency quotes the Kocharyan's defence as stating.

The advocates believe that Robert Kocharyan cannot be accused under the article of "overthrowing the constitutional order" in the case dealing with the events of 2008, because then there was no such article and the respective corpus delicti in the then Criminal Code of Armenia, RIA "Novosti" reports.

Let us remind you that according to Robert Kocharyan, his criminal prosecution, initiated after Nikol Pashinyan came to power in Armenia, is politically motivated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 16, 2019 at 06:59 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.