YEREVAN.- Armenian second president Robert Kocharyan's office made a statement in connection with the scandalous voice recording of the conversation between the director of the National Security Service and the head of the SIS.

"It is known that today, on September 11, recording of a phone conversation of Armenia’s National Security Service Artur Vanetsyan and head of Special Investigation Service Sasun Khachatryan appeared on the internet. They discussed the criminal case in connection with the arrest of Robert Kocharyan and CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov.

Based on the content of the conversations, it is necessary to state several important circumstances, about which we have repeatedly stated:

1. Concerning Robert Kocharyan, political persecution is carried out, which is personally directed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The conversation between the director of the National Security Service and the head of the SIS leaves no doubt about this.

2. Judging from the audio recordings, initially the goal was not to disclose the "March 1" case and find the guilty ones, but only to arrest  President Kocharyan, which is a classic example of a political vendetta.

3. The judge of the first instance who decided to arrest was under severe pressure from the authorities and took an illegal decision dictated to him from above.

4. The measure of restraint in respect of Robert Kocharyan and Yuri Khachaturov was chosen with the direct consent of Nikol Pashinyan. 

All this is a crime with the participation of high-ranking officials."

Earlier it was reported that a scandalous recording of a phone conversation of Armenia’s National Security Service Artur Vanetsyan and head of Special Investigation Service Sasun Khachatryan appeared on the internet. They discussed the criminal case in connection with the arrest of Robert Kocharyan and CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov.