YEREVAN. – The hearing of the criminal case against Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan and several other former senior officials has resumed Tuesday in the court of general jurisdiction of Yerevan.

The defendants—Kocharyan, former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, former Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan, and former CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov—are accused of overthrowing the constitutional order. This case is part of the criminal case on the tragic events that occurred in Yerevan on March 1, 2008, and it is considered in a separate proceeding.

At the previous hearing, Armen Gevorgyan lawyer had filed a motion for the self-recusal of presiding Judge Anna Danibekyan. The attorney had substantiated this motion by arguing that the judge had disclosed medical secrets concerning Gevorgyan's wife. But the court had denied this motion.

Earlier, the defense had filed several motions for the recusal of the current members of the prosecution, including of the prosecutor general, from this case. But the court had denied these motions, too.