If it comes to human lives, you should not impose any restrictions.
The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, stated the above-said in an interview with RBC television. He noted this when asked whether it was right to launch a criminal case against ex-President Robert Kocharyan, ten years after the events that occurred in capital city Yerevan.
“I don’t compare one with the other,” the PM said. “[But] if the matter concerns human lives, then in that case, no restrictions should be imposed.
“Besides that, under the Criminal Code, there is a statute of limitations specified by law. And if the [criminal] case is open and ongoing, then it means that, under the Criminal Code of Armenia, the statute of limitations has not expired.”
And to the query as to whether the criminal case against Robert Kocharyan is of principle, Pashinyan responded as follows: “It’s not a principle case to me. [But] I believe that it’s a principle case to Armenia. When ten citizens of the country die, it can’t remain without a consequence; it’s indispensable to find out what happened.”
With its ruling on December 7, 2018 the Criminal Court of Appeal had upheld the first instance court’s July 27 decision on remanding Robert Kocharyan in custody. On the same day—December 7, Kocharyan had handed himself over to a Yerevan penitentiary where he was arrested.
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 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 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.
