YEREVAN. – I'm really worried about his mental state. Andranik Kocharyan, a member of the majority My Step faction at the National Assembly (NA) of the Republic of Armenia (RA) and chair of the NA Standing Committee on Defense and Security, said this in a briefing with reporters today, referring to the statement made by former Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan.

"Let him return to the homeland soon and formulate his thoughts before the investigative body," Kocharyan added. “It turns out that the former prosecutor who graduated with a red diploma [of excellence] does not know the RA laws. He should come and present himself to the investigative investigation body. I tell you for sure, Gevorg Kostanyan still has to answer a lot of questions; I say that as one of the key members of the March 1 [2008] fact-finding group."

Responding to the journalist's observation that Gevorg Kostanyan had posited a condition that he was only ready for a public meeting, Kocharyan said: "If everyone says let it be public, then why are we calling people to the police? Why do the investigative bodies invite, hear, initiate criminal cases through various criminal cases? He is an accused; let him act from the status of his being an accused. Let his lawyer team realize the opportunities provided by the RA legislation to any RA citizen.”

To note former Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan has been indicted as a defendant in the “March 1” criminal case on charges of abuse of official position, incitement to official fraud, incitement to conceal a crime, and incitement to falsify evidence about crime in a criminal case.

We had earlier informed that Kostanyan had stated that he was ready to return to Armenia and to publicly answer all the questions of the investigative body.

Following this statement, the Special Investigation Service also issued a statement saying that Kostanyan was thus creating an excuse to avoid accountability.