It is the duty of every responsible citizen to express his or her stance. This is what former deputy of the National Assembly of Armenia Aghvan Vardanyan told journalists today, touching upon the protest taking place in the courtyard of Yerevan court of general jurisdiction, saying that he is here to express his support to Robert Kocharyan.

According to Vardanyan, the second President of Armenia is being politically persecuted.

“Right from the very first day the charge was filed against Mr. Kocharyan, it was obvious that the materials had been compiled at least one or one-and-a-half months ago and it was clear that charging Mr. Kocharyan under the case of March 1, 2008 was the first thing that came to mind after change of power and the ‘velvet’ seizure of power,” Vardanyan said.

According to him, everyone has witnessed how the presumption of innocence of Kocharyan has been violated by the country’s primary figures several times.

When asked if it wasn’t logical to reveal the events of March 1 first after the revolution, Vardanyan said revealing the case of March 1 means revealing those who assassinated 10 people and all those who participated in the murders. According to him, there were no victims at Liberty Square on the morning of March 1 and the police officers approaching the people were unarmed.

“The police faced resistance, and 187 police officers were injured throughout the day. I’m not even talking about the role that Levon Ter-Petrosyan and the incumbent authorities played in stirring the crowd,” Vardanyan said.