RA Anti-Corruption Committee announces arrest of Robert Kocharyan

ArmInfo.  A two-month pretrial detention has been imposed on Armenia's second president, Robert Kocharyan. This was reported by Marina Ohanjanyan, press secretary of the Anti-Corruption Committee.

"The Anti-Corruption Court (presided over by Judge S. Dadoyan) fully  satisfied the investigator's motion, and arrest has been imposed on  R.K.," she reported.

The hearing on the pretrial detention of Armenia's second president,  who is charged with abuse of office, large-scale money laundering,  and bribery, and whose arrest is being requested, began on the  evening of August 26. In the early morning, Kocharyan was  hospitalized. The case continued without him.

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. At the  same time, 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 revealed that  searches were conducted at Robert Kocharyan's home and dozens of  addresses of companies owned by the Kocharyan family, as well as the  homes of directors of companies associated with the second president.  Robert Kocharyan's condition, who had undergone heart surgery about  two weeks earlier, 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. An  attempt was made to bring him to court, but due to his existing  health issues, doctors prevented this. On August 26, at 8:00 a.m.,  the arrest warrant for the second president of Armenia expired. A  second motion was subsequently filed.

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 previous day had been  remanded in custody, including Sedrak Kocharyan. The court ordered  his pretrial detention for two months. Another defendant, according  to a source, was placed under house arrest. It was also reported that  a travel ban has been imposed on the third president of Armenia,  Serzh Sargsyan, who is also involved in the case.