“The criminal pursuit against Robert Kocharyan has no political implications. He is not involved in politics, despite the fact that he is presenting himself as someone who has been politically persecuted. He is responsible for the crimes of March 1st (the individual is presumed innocent until a decision is made),” human rights activist Artur Sakunts said regarding the detainment of second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan.
Robert Kocharyan is accused of violating the Armenian constitution during the events of March 1, 2008.
According to Artur Sakunts, “Calling the criminal cases filed against representatives of the former authorities ‘political persecution’ means that such crimes did not take place when the former authorities were in power. They must be held responsible for the continuous crimes committed against Armenian citizens. This needs to teach the new Armenian authorities a lesson. They need to show by example that if an official commits a crime, they need to be held responsible.”
The lawyer continued, “They are trying to politicize the process of holding former authorities and corrupt individuals responsible. And that is in the instance that those people are responsible for the unpunishable atmosphere of the past. I have worries about Manvel Grigoryan’s health conditions, but we have always criticized the arrest decision. We think that arrest needs to be the last and most extreme result.”
Luiza Sukiasyan
