The Armenian Court of Appeals made a decision to take into custody the ex-president of the country Robert Kocharian. On the same day, the politician arrived at the penitentiary (analogous to the Russian remand prison. - RT ) “Yerevan-Kentron”. At the gates, Kocharyan supporters greeted him with applause and shouts of cheers, reports News of Armenia-NEWS.am.

In response to a request from journalists to comment on the decision of the court, Kocharyan said: “I think you see for yourself, there is neither law nor legality.” When asked if he had something else to say, Kocharyan replied: “Oh, I have so much to say.” At the same time he interrupted communication with journalists and went to the building of the investigative institution.

A native of Stepanakert, Robert Kocharyan, in 1994-1997, headed the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Two presidential terms - from 1998 to 2008 - he led Armenia. According to the investigators, it was during this period that he committed the crimes incriminated to him: he received a bribe on a large scale and infringed on the constitutional order of the republic, ordering to disperse an opposition rally on March 1, 2008. Kocharyan denies all charges and claims that he is being persecuted for political reasons.

In July 2018 by the decision of the Yerevan Court, he was arrested for two months. However, a month later, Kocharyan was released on the basis of a constitutional provision on the immunity of former presidents. The prosecutor's office appealed this decision, and in December Kocharyan was again arrested. In May of this year, the protection of the ex-president through the Constitutional Court secured his release on bail. In addition, the former President of Nagorno-Karabakh, Arkady Ghukasyan, and the current head of the unrecognized republic, Bako Sahakyan, were commissioned for Kocharyan.

On June 25, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the court of general jurisdiction of Yerevan to release Kocharyan on bail, finding it illegal, and the arrest warrant valid. The ex-president himself and his lawyers refused to attend the meeting.

On the eve of the court decision, on June 24, Kocharyan gave a television interview to the Fifth Channel, in which he accused the incumbent head of state Nikol Pashinyan of interfering in the internal affairs of Nagorno-Karabakh. According to him, the unrecognized republic is a burden, not a value, for the current authorities in Armenia. Kocharyan accused the authorities of having hatched the idea of ​​how to get rid of this burden, Sputnik-Armenia reports.

“Pressure on Armenian Justice”

First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots Konstantin Zatulin expressed an opinion in a conversation with RT that the ex-president of Armenia is being persecuted for political reasons.

“The Armenian authorities and its leader consider the trial of Kocharyan, his arrest and detention as a matter of principle for himself, put pressure on the Armenian justice. With obstinacy, worthy of better application, they turn the entire Armenian judicial system on its head in order to achieve the condemnation of the second President of Armenia and the first President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Robert Kocharian, ”said Konstantin Zatulin.

Vladimir Novikov, senior researcher at the Institute of Social and Political Research of the Black Sea-Caspian Region, adheres to a similar point of view.

“Kocharyan is being arrested in the same case, which is the March 1, 2008 case on the suppression of riots in Yerevan, during which several people died. Then one of the leaders of the protests was the current Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan. For the current authorities of Armenia, Kocharyan’s condemnation for suppressing those riots is, one might say, a personal matter, ”Novikov said in an interview with RT.

He recalled that shortly after the events of March 1, Pashinyan was arrested and spent several years in prison.

“Then he was pardoned, and he safely became a deputy. But still he suffered, and, in his opinion and the opinion of his supporters, unfairly and illegally, ”the expert notes.

Recall that in the spring of 2018, Pashinyan led protests against Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and achieved a change of power.

However, experts doubt that the court finds Kocharyan guilty. Novikov draws attention to the fact that the conviction of the ex-president will create a complex legal problem that Pashinyan will have to take into account.

“Kocharyan is accused of having practically destroyed the constitutional order. But if you follow the logic of the prosecution, for the next ten years the power and its actions were illegal. It turns out that there was an illegal referendum on constitutional amendments, as a result of which Armenia turned into a parliamentary republic and Pashinyan now holds the post of prime minister, and his party is the leading seat in the country's parliament. If Kocharyan is convicted for this, then, as it seems to me, the Armenian authorities are laying a legal mine under him, ”Novikov believes.

The expert stressed that the investigation is still ongoing, so what is the final wording of the indictment, it is not clear.

Consequences of arrest

Experts do not believe that in the short term, the arrest of the ex-president will lead to destabilization of the situation in Armenia. According to Novikov, large-scale protests in connection with the case of the former head of state, most likely, should not be expected.

  • Robert Kocharyan at the rally
  • globallookpress.com
  • © Russian Look

According to Alexander Markarov, director of the Armenian branch of the CIS institute, Kocharyan began to make political statements because of the persecution from Pashinyan, and also because, from his point of view, the current leadership of the country is pursuing the wrong course.

At the same time, according to analysts, in the long term, Kocharyan’s possible return to big politics can create problems for Pashinyan.

Konstantin Zatulin is sure that it was prosecution that forced the return to the political activities of the ex-president.

“Robert Kocharyan, at least before the“ velvet revolution ”, withdrew himself from the political process and in fact didn’t show himself at all during Serzh Sargsyan’s reign, was busy with personal affairs. We can say that the irrepressible desire of the current government to send him to prison provoked the return of the ex-president to the political scene, ”said Konstantin Zatulin.