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The criminal case against me has nothing to do with the ten fatalities on March 1, 2008, Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan said, in an interview with Armenia Sputnik radio station.

“My criminal case is linked to a charge in which there is neither logic nor legal grounds,” Kocharyan stated, in particular.

He reflected also on Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov, who likewise is charged along the lines of the same criminal case. Kocharyan said what was done in Armenia with respect to Khachaturov was a myopic move, and it caused major concerns within the CSTO.

“Due to this criminal case, it’s also possible that we [Armenia] lose our place [in the CSTO],” he added.

As per Kocharyan, people who actually attempted to breach Armenia’s constitutional order ten years ago are now attempting to exact revenge upon the authorities of the time.

“This task is put before the investigative body,” the second President said. “You just have to abandon that approach.”

Kocharyan expressed a conviction that this criminal case should be investigated with the logic of finding the real perpetrators.

Second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, and incumbent CSTO Secretary General and Armenia’s former Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Khachaturov have been charged 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.

On July 27, Kocharyan was remanded in custody for two months by a court decision, whereas Khachaturov was released on bail; and on August 4, he returned to Moscow to his duties as CSTO Secretary General. And on August 13, the Court of Appeal granted Robert Kocharyan’s legal defenders’ appeal to commute the first-instance court’s decision on remanding their client in custody, and Kocharyan was released from courtroom on the grounds that he has presidential immunity.

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.

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