PAP condemns political persecution against Armenia`s second president

ArmInfo.  The Prosperous Armenia Party condemns the obvious political persecution against the second President of the Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, and  members of his family. This is stated in the party's statement.

Prosperous Armenia points out that the criminal case was initiated on  orders from above. "Targeted and targeted justice should have no  place in any democratic state. Such disregard for fundamental norms  of legal certainty is unacceptable and threatens the foundations of  statehood," the Prosperous Armenia Party stated.

As a reminder, on the morning of August 25, security forces brought  the second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, and his eldest  son, Sedrak Kocharyan, to the Anti-Corruption Committee for  questioning. At the same time, officers from Armenia's National  Security Council conducted searches of the apartment of Levon  Kocharyan, a member of parliament from the opposition Armenia faction  and the son of second president Robert Kocharyan. The search 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 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. 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, which was  granted by the court.

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 Serzh Sargsyan, also implicated in  the case, had been placed under a travel restriction.