25 February 2020, 22:36
Trial in former Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan's case started amid protest action
At a rally held in front of the courthouse, supporters of Serzh Sargsyan, the third President of Armenia, called him a victim of political persecution. The defence claimed the biased attitude of the public prosecutor and demanded his challenge.
According to investigators, in 2013, Serzh Sargsyan "with a group of persons" embezzled about 490 million drams (1 million US dollars).
Serzh Sargsyan's defence declared a violation of the president's immunity and demanded from the General Prosecutor's Office of Armenia to release the former president of Armenia. However, the Prosecutor's Office refused.
The case against Serzh Sargsyan has been ordered, claim members of the former ruling "Republican Party of Armenia" (RPA). They associate the case with the Karabakh conflict.
"The authorities are trying to divert the attention of the Armenian people from many other internal and external problems, which are getting aggravated from day to day," the RPA states.
During the court hearing, the RPA members held an action in support of Serzh Sargsyan. In their hands, the activists were holding flags and posters reading: "Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh, note of the 'Caucasian Knot') will never be part of Azerbaijan! Serzh Sargsyan."
Former Armenian MP Vaan Babayan believes the case has been fabricated. He said that his party supports Serzh Sargsyan and calls on people to unite around the "Artsakh problem." Vaan Babayan recalled the Serzh Sargsyan's speech in Zagreb, where the former president of Armenia said that "Artsakh would never be part of Azerbaijan."
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 25, 2019 at 06:24 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Armine Martirosyan Source: CK correspondent
