The Criminal Court of Appeal on Thursday denied the defense lawyers' appeal against the decision to arrest Dr. Armen Charchyan—Izmirlian Medical Center director, and a member of the opposition "Armenia" bloc, led by second President Robert Kocharyan.

Charchyan has been charged under Article 154.2 of the Criminal Code—that is, giving bribes to voters, taking bribes, violating the ban on charity during elections, or obstructing the exercise of a voter's free will.

The court of first instance had ruled that he be remanded in custody. It had found that there were grounds to obstruct the investigation.

Also, the court had found Charchyan's detention to be illegal. After his release, he had given a press conference during which he had argued that the criminal case against him was concocted.

A recording was disseminated on the Internet, according to which Armen Charchyan was urging his employees at Izmirlian Medical Center to go and vote in the snap parliamentary elections on June 20. But according to his legal defense team, the edited version of that recording was submitted to the court, whereas in the full version, Charchyan had not threatened or put pressure on his employees.