I have never avoided responsibility. This is what second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan declared during examination of his defense attorneys’ appeal under his case at the Criminal Court of Appeal today.

“The fact that I was the president of a country is a heavy burden that I will carry all my life, and whenever I do something, I think about how the public will perceive it and what its reaction will be. This is the biggest responsibility for me as the second president of Armenia and the first president of Artsakh,” Kocharyan said.

Kocharyan mentioned that his supporters and opponents share the opinion that he is a man of his word and that he will never avoid responsibility.

“This is an extremely great asset, and I simply can’t spark doubts about that. It’s unpleasant for me to stand in court and use certain words to explain the importance of that,” Kocharyan said. In response, the presiding judge asked why it was unpleasant for him, and Kocharyan said it is because it seemed to him that there wouldn’t be a need to explain that, based on his biography.

Kocharyan also stated that he has never given anyone a reason to think that he can’t be a man of his word since 1988.

The judge was asking about Kocharyan’s line of conduct during the proceedings.

Kocharyan’s defense attorney Aram Vardevanyan presented the relations between Robert Kocharyan and the people who have submitted a letter of personal pledge.