YEREVAN. – The Constitutional Court of Armenia on Wednesday will issue its ruling regarding the case questioning the constitutionality of the grounds for remanding second President Robert Kocharyan in custody. Edgar Ghazaryan, Chief of Staff of the Constitutional Court, on Tuesday informed about this to reporters.
The Constitutional Court on Tuesday began considering—by a written procedure—the petitions by Kocharyan, the key defendant in the criminal case into the tragic events that occurred in capital city Yerevan, in March 2008.
The second president has asked the high court to consider the constitutionality of the two articles of the Criminal Procedure Code, and with respect to the grounds for applying pretrial measure, and the circumstances that rule out the proceedings of the criminal case or the criminal prosecution against him.
The body that adopted the said Criminal Procedure Code—that is, the National Assembly—has been included in this litigation as the plaintiff.
Second President Robert Kocharyan is charged with overthrowing the constitutional order in Armenia in connection with the tragic events that occurred in Yerevan in March 2008, and taking a particularly large bribe.
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.
The second President has been arrested three times.
Kocharyan was taken into custody for the third time on June 25, when the Criminal Court of Appeal ruled to once again arrest him—who had earlier been released on the personal pledge by the former and incumbent Presidents of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), overturned the first instance court ruling to suspend the proceedings of the case against Kocharyan and several other former senior officials—in connection with the aforesaid events in Yerevan, and sent the case for a new examination.
