Armenia`s second president believes prosecutor not author of  indictment against him 

ArmInfo. Armenia's second president, Robert Kocharyan, believes that the indictment against him was not authored by the current prosecutor. The former president expressed his position during a regular court hearing at the RA  Anti-Corruption Court on January 16.

According to Kocharyan, the facts mentioned in the indictment bear no  relation to reality. "I understand that the current prosecutor did  not author this indictment; he merely approved it. It contains a  number of absurd provisions, and if the court allows this, then the  court accepts what was written," the second president of the Republic  of Armenia noted.

He added that the indictment presents allegations that appear to be  unconstitutional. "I understand what you're saying, but the document  contains simply absurd formulations. You could at least change or  remove these formulations. You say you can't, but if the conclusion  contains absurdity, does that mean it, this absurdity, must be  discussed throughout the entire court hearing?" the second president  remarked.

At today's court hearing, Anti-Corruption Court Chairman Sarkis  Petrosyan accepted new indictments in the case of the second  President of the Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, and other  individuals. In other words, he authorized the prosecutor to amend  the indictment against Robert Kocharyan, Seyran Ohanyan, Yuri  Khachaturov, and Armen Gevorgyan.

As a reminder, Armen Gevorgyan and Seyran Ohanyan are members of the  National Assembly and enjoy constitutional immunity. This means they  cannot be prosecuted without parliament's consent. In this regard,  the deputies raised the question of whether the acceptance of new  indictments meant bringing new charges against them. The judge noted  that the criminal prosecution, which began in 2018, was ongoing, and  therefore new charges were admissible. Seyran Ohanyan and Armen  Gevorkyan, however, claimed that their right to immunity had been  violated.

All four are accused of attempting to overthrow the constitutional  order during the events of March 1-2, 2008. They were charged in  2018. However, in 2021, the Constitutional Court ruled Article 300.1,  with which they were charged, unconstitutional. Following this, the  defense lawyers filed a motion to dismiss their clients' criminal  prosecution on the grounds of a lack of criminal element. Given that  the article they were charged with had been found unconstitutional,  Judge Anna Danibekyan dismissed the case. The prosecutor's office  appealed the judge's decision, but the Court of Appeals upheld the  dismissal. Then, then- Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan filed a  cassation appeal. In its July 2024 ruling, the Constitutional Court  stated that a prosecutor may amend the charges brought against an  accused if the accused's actions contain elements of another act  under criminal law, regardless of the evidence being examined during  the trial.  Following this ruling, on September 12, 2024, the Court  of Cassation heard the appeal of former Prosecutor General Artur  Davtyan and ruled to overturn the court decision dismissing the case  against Robert Kocharyan, Yuri Khachaturov, Seyran Ohanyan, and Armen  Gevorgyan and to send the case to the Anti- Corruption Court of First  Instance for a new trial.

The new trial in the Anti-Corruption Court has been ongoing for over  a year. During this time, the defense has argued that the four  high-ranking officials involved in the case do not have the status of  defendants, as they were effectively acquitted. The prosecutors also  asked the court to amend the charges against them, and after more  than a year of deliberation, the court today ruled to amend the  charges, charging all four with abuse of office. Therefore, after  more than a year of deliberation, the court will likely have to move  on to the issues to be considered at the preliminary hearing.