Investigators and defence argue about reputation of the judge who released Kocharyan

The judge, who has released Robert Kocharyan, a former president of Armenia from arrest, had to take self-disqualification, as he had worked in Kocharyan's administration and passed sentences "on the March 1 case," the head of the Special Investigating Service (SIS) of Armenia has stated today. The Kocharyan's defence treats it as pressure on the court.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Robert Kocharyan was accused of overthrowing the constitutional order in connection with the dispersal of protest actions in Yerevan on March 1-2, 2008. He was arrested on July 27 this year. On August 13, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision to place Robert Kocharyan behind bars, referring to his immunity as a former president of Armenia.

Today, Sasun Khachatryan, the head of the SIS, called the CoA's decision to release Robert Kocharyan from custody "unlawful." According to Mr Khachatryan, Judge Alexander Azaryan should have declared self-disqualification.

"Azaryan had worked in the administration of President Robert Kocharyan and handed down nine indictments on the 'March 1 case', the wording thereof indicates his bias," Khachatryan said during a briefing broadcast live on the "Azatutyun" Radio.

The statement of the SIS head is an attempt to put pressure on the court, Aik Alumyan, a Kocharyan's advocate, said today at a press conference. In his opinion, the disruption by activists of Robert Kocharyan's press conference is also affecting the justice.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 16, 2018 at 07:36 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.