The second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, was arrested on July 27 on charges of overthrowing the constitutional order within the March 1 criminal case. He was released on August 13 by the decision of the Criminal Court of Appeals of the Republic of Armenia. Kocharyan’s defender, Ruben Sahakyan, stated that the Criminal Court of Appeals has abolished the decision of the First Instance Court of general jurisdiction, taking into account Kocharyan’s immunity. That is, it is not that the preventive measure has been changed, but has simply been eliminated. Experts, however, insist that immunity does not apply to Kocharyan in case of such indictment.
It is not in vain that the Special Investigation Service has qualified the decision of the Court of Appeal as illegal. According to the Special Investigation Service, the court has acted beyond the scope of its powers. At the same time, the Special Investigation Service has expressed hope that the Prosecutor’s Office of Armenia will make an appeal. In this regard, the Public Relations Department of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Armenia informed that they will discuss the issue after receiving the decision, after which their steps will become clear.
However, it was expected that the public will react negatively to the decision of the Court of Appeal. Especially, the decision to release the former president has been made by judge Alexander Azaryan, who during Robert Kocharyan’s presidency in 1998-1999 and 2001-2006 worked in his staff as Chief Specialist of the Justice Council secretariat. There is a view that this circumstance has played a role in his decision.
However, despite Kocharyan’s release, let us note that he still has a status of the defendant in the March 1 case. That is, what happened does not mean that he will no longer be held accountable after his release. By keeping him in custody for 17 days, in fact, the new authorities showed that there are no untouchable people and that even the status of the former president is not a guarantee for being exempted from liability.
Another fact: although what happened was not accepted by the society, it has a positive aspect too: this showed that the judiciary is no longer guided by the dictates of the ruling power, otherwise Kocharyan would hardly be released.
Let us remind that mass protests were held in Armenia, after presidential elections on 2008. The protests were organized by the supporters of the First President of Republic of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosian. During the protest held on March 1, 2008, clashes broke out between police and protesters. President Robert Kocharyan declared a 20-day state of emergency. On July 26, 2018, second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan was charged with a criminal offense on the basis of sufficient evidence obtained during the preliminary investigation by the Armenian Special Investigative Service on the criminal case on the events that took place in Yerevan from March 1, 2008 to March 2, 2008, under Article 300.1 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, for the fact that he overturned the constitutional order of the Republic of Armenia by prior agreement with other persons. On July 28, Kocharyan has been remanded into custody for two months. The Court of Criminal Appeals of the Republic of Armenia decided that President Robert Kocharyan should not remain in detention, and Kocharyan was released on April 13.