Prosecutor General`s Office  petitions Central Electoral Commission   for criminal prosecution of Robert Kocharyan

ArmInfo.  The Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia has submitted a petition to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) seeking consent to initiate criminal  proceedings against Armenia's second president, Robert Kocharyan,  according to information received by ArmInfo from the Prosecutor  General's Office.

Recall , on June 14, the authorities banned Kocharyan from leaving  the country. However, Kocharyan's office had previously announced  that the former president intended to take a three-day private trip  abroad, noting that the travel had been planned well in advance but  was postponed due to the intensive parliamentary election campaign.  Nevertheless, pro-government media and circles seized the opportunity  to speculate on this topic, publishing headlines about the "flight of  the second president," even though the trip had been announced in  advance.

It's worth noting  that the first video footage of Kocharyan's  inability to leave Armenia was published by the newspaper "Haykakan  Zhamanak," owned by the family of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan.  However, objections have been raised regarding the  unauthorized publication of security footage from the airport's  restricted area by the Prime Minister's family-owned outlet, and the  lack of official clarification from the National Security Service  (NSS) regarding the legal basis for the travel ban.

Previously, Gagik Tsarukyan, leader of the Prosperous Armenia party,  and Narek Karapetyan, a board member of the Strong Armenia bloc, were  also barred from leaving the country.