Lawyer: Trials of Robert Kocharyan have long since moved beyond legal  realm and into the political realm

ArmInfo. The trials against Armenia's second president, Robert Kocharyan, have long since moved  beyond the legal realm and into the political realm. This was stated  by Aram Orbelyan, the lawyer for the second president, at a press  conference in Yerevan on August 31.

In this regard, he noted that in recent days they have observed a  rise in publicity surrounding the case. For example, the lawyer noted  that the Investigative Committee (IC) of Armenia is disseminating  some information, and some information related to the case is being  discussed in parliament. "It's clear that this process has long since  moved beyond the legal realm and into the political realm. There's  such a thing as biased disclosure. This is an attempt, given the  existing problems in the courts, to inject some shocking information  so that, if nothing comes of it in the future, the blame can be  shifted to the judge," the lawyer explained.

Speaking about the charges themselves, Orbelian noted that they are  based on certain assumptions. "The problem is this: when someone  wants to protect their rights, they need to know what they're  defending themselves against. Specifically, what actions are  attributed to them, or what they failed to do, which they should have  done by law. In this case, we don't know what's at issue. The  indictment, for example, states that members of the government report  to the president. And of course, given what's happening in our  country today, it's clear that this is precisely how the current  government governs the country, but that doesn't mean it should be  that way.

Because there's such a concept as the separation of constitutional  organs. And there's, for example, a sentence like this: 'President  Kocharyan, through his subordinates, ensured the drafting of a  government resolution.' Meanwhile, the draft was drafted in some  ministry, discussed by the government, and then adopted. In this  case, the president only took one action-he ratified the government's  decision," Orbelyan explained.

The lawyer pointed out that there's no procedure according to which  the president shouldn't have done this, while the indictment is  entirely based on this. "And within the case, unrelated circumstances  are constantly being used, the connection between which we cannot  find. It's also unclear how Robert Kocharyan could have obstructed  the investigation while at large, given that the only action he has  taken was ratifying the government agreement. We tried to understand  why arrest was chosen as a preventive measure. And here, everything  is clear - this is a political, not a legal, process, and even if it  were some kind of economic process, arrest would not have been  applied," the lawyer noted.

In conclusion, Orbelyan stated that they intend to appeal the  decision to arrest Armenia's second president as soon as they have  the court's decision. "The Kocharyans have not yet received the  decision to arrest Robert Kocharyan. Once they receive it, they will  obviously begin the appeal process," Orbelyan said.

As a reminder, on August 25, National Security Council officers  conducted searches of the apartment of Levon Kocharyan, a member of  the opposition Armenia faction and the son of second president Robert  Kocharyan, and of companies affiliated with the Kocharyan family.  Robert Kocharyan and Sedrak Kocharyan were subsequently detained and  taken to the Anti-Corruption Committee for questioning.  However,  Robert Kocharyan's condition, which had undergone heart surgery  approximately two weeks earlier, deteriorated sharply and he was  hospitalized. Robert Kocharyan was charged that same day with  large-scale money laundering, abuse of office, and accepting a large  bribe. Nine other individuals were also charged in the case. On  August 27, Kocharyan was sentenced to two months in custody by the  Anti- Corruption Court.