YEREVAN. – The Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia has rejected the 45 MPs’ petition for commuting the court decision on remanding second President Robert Kocharyan in custody.

Arevik Khachatryan, head of the public relations division at the attorney general’s office, told about the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

“At this phase of the investigation, the grounds for the precautionary measure of arrest—selected for Robert Kocharyan—are maintained,” she said. “And the selection of another precautionary measure not linked to confinement is not yet able to guarantee the investigation’s undisrupted course depending on the proper conduct of the accused.”

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 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.