The attorneys of Robert Kocharyan, the second President of Armenia, on Wednesday submitted to the Court of Appeal their petition to appeal the court decision on remanding Kocharyan in custody.

Aram Orbelyan, a legal defender of Armenia’s second President, told about the abovementioned to Armenian News-NEWS.am. He added that a group of lawmakers’ signatures under a request for the release of Kocharyan also was submitted with the said petition.

Orbelyan stressed, however, that not solely MPs from the parliamentary faction of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), but also from other factions had joined this signature campaign; but he did not mention any names.

According to latest information, the number of deputies that have joined the RPA parliamentary faction-launched signature campaign to commute the court decision on remanding Robert Kocharyan in custody has reached 42.

As reported earlier, a charge has been brought against second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, former Defense Minister Mikayel Harutyunyan, and incumbent Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Secretary General and Armenia’s former Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Khachaturov, within the framework of the criminal case into the tragic events that transpired in capital city Yerevan on March 1 and 2, 2008—and under Article 300.1 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code; that is, breaching Armenia’s constitutional order, in conspiracy with others.

Since Harutyunyan is not in Armenia, a search for him was declared. And on July 27, Khachaturov was released on bail, whereas Kocharyan was remanded in custody for two months by a court decision.

On the evening of July 26, ex-President Robert Kocharyan had given an interview, during which he had said the criminal case against him was trumped-up and a political vendetta.

On March 1 and 2, 2008, the then authorities used force against the opposition members who were rallying in downtown Yerevan, and against the results of the recent presidential election. Eight demonstrators as well as two servicemen of the internal troops were killed in the clashes. But no one had been brought to account for these deaths, to this day.