Lawyer: Decision to search Levon Kocharyan`s apartment ppealed to  Anti-Corruption Court of Appeals

ArmInfo. The decision to search the apartment of Levon Kocharyan, a member of the National Assembly (NA) from the opposition "Armenia" faction, has been appealed to the Anti-Corruption Court of Appeals. Levon Kocharyan's lawyer, Erik Aleksanyan, announced this on his Facebook page.

He recalled that the defense had previously stated that the search of  the deputy's apartment indicates that criminal proceedings are  underway against him.

"Consequently, before the search of Kocharyan's apartment, that is,  before the actual commencement of criminal proceedings against him,  the Prosecutor General of Armenia should have submitted a motion to  parliament to override Levon Kocharyan's parliamentary immunity.  However, this was not done, making yesterday's entire proceedings  illegal," Aleksanyan explained.

Furthermore, according to the lawyer, the court's decision  authorizing the search of Levon Kocharyan's apartment contains  conclusions based solely on operational data.  "And from the  contested decision, it follows that this operational data was not  verified or assessed at all, which also renders the court's decision  illegal," Aleksanyan concluded.  As a reminder, on the morning of  August 25, security forces brought second Armenian President Robert  Kocharyan and his eldest son, Sedrak Kocharyan, to the Anti-  Corruption Committee for questioning. Concurrently, officers from the  National Security Council of Armenia conducted searches of the  apartment of Levon Kocharyan, a member of the opposition Armenia  faction and the son of second President Robert Kocharyan.  The  searches lasted seven hours. It was also reported that searches were  conducted at Robert Kocharyan's home and at dozens of addresses of  companies owned by the Kocharyan family, as well as at the homes of  directors of companies associated with the second president. Robert  Kocharyan's condition, who underwent heart surgery about two weeks  ago, sharply worsened during the investigation, and he was  hospitalized. The Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia announced  that same day that Robert Kocharyan had been charged with large-scale  money laundering, abuse of office, and bribery. As part of the  proceedings, criminal cases were initiated against nine individuals,  including former Defense Minister and third President of Armenia  Serzh Sargsyan. Later, the Anti- Corruption Committee of Armenia  announced that four of the six individuals detained the day before  had been placed under arrest, including Sedrak Kocharyan. The court  remanded him in custody for two months. Another defendant, according  to the source, was placed under house arrest. The Anti-Corruption  Committee also reported that third President of Armenia Serzh  Sargsyan, also implicated in the case, had been placed under a travel  restriction.