08:50, 10 January 2019

Prosecution demands disqualification of judge dealing with Robert Kocharian's case

Robert Kocharyan. Photo © Sputnik / Asatur Yesayants https://ru.armeniasputnik.am/politics/20180831/14160625/robert-kocharyan-primet-uchastie-v-parlamentskih-vyborah.html

The prosecutor and the investigator have asked the judge, who is running the case of the second president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, to recuse himself, because of his friendship with another figurant in the case. These petitions are artificially protracting Kocharyan's release from custody, his advocate has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Kocharyan was arrested on July 27, 2018. On December 28, his defence petitioned for release on bail.

Mr Kocharyan has been accused of financial frauds and an overthrow of the constitutional system in connection with the crackdown of protest actions in Yerevan 10 years ago.

The fact of friendship with another figurant in the case cannot affect the judge's impartiality in any way, Ayk Alumyan, an advocate, believes.

The ban on Kocharyan's meetings with relatives and friends is still in force, the second advocate, Aram Orbelyan, has added. Therefore, Mr Kocharyan cannot work on his book, since he is not provided with a computer or other equipment for working with the text, the advocate has added. He treats it as a human rights violation.

Earlier, Robert Kocharyan stated the political motives of his persecution. In his opinion, the Acting Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, has pressed the court.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 9, 2019 at 05:05 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Armine Martirosyan

Source: CK correspondent