The Yerevan court denied the motion to lift the pretrial measure against CSTO former Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov.

The respective court decision was announced Thursday afternoon.

This motion was submitted by Khachaturov's lawyer at Tuesday’s court hearing of the criminal case against Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan and several other former senior officials.

Initially, it was ruled that Khachaturov be remanded in custody, but then he was released on bail.

His lawyer had stressed the inadmissibility of such treatment of national heroes, at the same time pointing out that his client had not missed a single court hearing.

The defendants in this criminal case—ex-President Robert Kocharyan, former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, former Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan, and former CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov—are accused of overthrowing the constitutional order. This case is part of the criminal case on the tragic events that occurred in Yerevan on March 1, 2008, and it is considered in a separate proceeding.

The next court session is scheduled for February 16.