10:32, 24 March 2019

Defence of Robert Kocharyan, ex-President of Armenia, files fifth lawsuit to ECtHR

The appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) concerns the fact that the complaint against the refusal to release Robert Kocharyan from December 2018 has not been accepted yet, the advocate, Ayk Alumyan, has stated. According to his story, this is the fifth complaint submitted to the ECtHR.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 15, the court rejected the petition of the defence of Robert Kocharyan, the first president of Armenia, to release him on bail, and extended his arrest by two months.

Robert Kocharyan was arrested on July 27, 2018, and accused of financial crimes, overthrow of the constitutional order, in connection with the crackdown of protests in Yerevan in March 2008, as well as of large-scale bribery.

The advocate has reminded that the defence filed a complaint with the Court of Cassation on December 25, 2018, but it has not been accepted yet.

In his opinion, the fears that when at large the first president may interfere with the investigation do not hold water.

“Kocharyan can't impede the inquiry because all his movements are shadowed by agents of the National Security Service (NSS)," Mr Alumyan said.

Kocharyan's persecution will affect the country's image, advocates have warned. Earlier, he treated his arrest as "Pashinyan's revenge."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 23, 2019 at 04:56 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.