YEREVAN. – I neither confirm nor deny, Minister of Justice of Armenia, Artak Zeynalyan, on Friday told reporters in parliament.

He stated this when asked about the accuracy of the reports that he had tried to meet with second President Robert Kocharyan who is in custody, but Kocharyan had refused to meet with him, and when asked about the reason behind this refusal.

“If I inform why he [Kocharyan] refused, it means I already give consent to the fact that I’ve met, or haven’t met [with Kocharyan],” Zeynalyan said. “Penitentiaries, including prisons, are under my jurisdiction, and I can visit all of them, get familiarized with the conditions [there].

“[But] as to whom I’ve met with, under what circumstances I’ve met, is not subject to publicizing.”

Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan—along with several other former officials—has been charged within the framework of the criminal case into the tragic events that transpired in capital city Yerevan, in March 2008—and under Article 300.1 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code; that is, breaching Armenia’s constitutional order, in conspiracy with others. Subsequently, he was charged also with taking a particularly large bribe.

On March 1 and 2, 2008 the then authorities of Armenia used force against the opposition members who were rallying in downtown Yerevan, and against the results of the presidential election on February 19, 2008. 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.