YEREVAN. – Judge Armen Danielyan of the Court of Appeal of Armenia has denied the motion to recuse himself from presiding over the appeal hearing in the criminal case involving second President Robert Kocharyan.

The motion was submitted by Kocharyan’s lawyers Hovhannes Khudoyan and Aram Vardevanyan. According to them, this judge's previous actions testify to his being impartial and not independent.

The prosecutor's office has filed an appeal to the aforesaid court in connection with the first-instance court's decision to provide the defense with the full case files.