Opposition Figure: European Institutions Must Respond to the Armenian Authorities’ Lawlessness

Arminfo.  Only a reaction from European structures can stop the arbitrariness of the Armenian authorities. Opposition Armenia faction MP Levon Kocharyan stated this at a press conference in Yerevan on September 17.

He raised the question of to what extent it is possible to speak of an absence of a conflict of interest in this situation, given that the country’s leader is imprisoning the main opposition leaders. Moreover, as the MP noted, these are cases that are still at the preliminary investigation stage. "The question arises: to what extent does such a practice comply with democratic principles?" the MP asked.

The opposition politician called it inadequate that what was previously condemned by representatives of the civilized international community is now perceived as the norm.  "This is not normal, especially for a country that has adopted the law "On the Launch of the Process of Accession to the European Union (EU)". And it is equally abnormal that European structures are not reacting to any of this. I am sure that if something like this had happened 10 or 30 years ago, various embassies and structures would have issued a strong statement.  And that would have been right. And now, in order to stop their actions, which have crossed all permissible boundaries, they should also react, but they are not doing so," Kocharyan noted.

Overall, he called for attention to be paid to how many criminal cases have been initiated under the current Armenian authorities, how much property has been seized, and how many people have been detained, including Armenia’s second president Robert Kocharyan and his son Sedrak Kocharyan. "And after all this, they have not calmed down. And when you respond to them, they suddenly claim that we are raising personal issues. But it is not we who are talking about all this; they are the ones who constantly reopen this topic. Robert Kocharyan has not been the president of Armenia since 2008.  Someone unfamiliar with the case might think that he stopped being president a year ago, given what is happening," the opposition politician noted.

In this regard, Kocharyan also recalled how, on September 16, in parliament, he pointed out to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that he apparently had "certain complexes in relation to Robert Kocharyan". "Perhaps it is a complex regarding our family, regarding Robert Kocharyan. A person who has achieved something respects the people around him. But when a person is weak, has no honor, and is afraid, he respects neither the brave nor the worthy. Because he wants everyone to be as pitiful and bent as he is," the MP concluded.

It should be recalled that on September 16, during government question time, Pashinyan also touched upon the arrest of Armenia’s second president Robert Kocharyan. In particular, he once again spoke about "the looted property", after which the Armenian prime minister threatened Levon Kocharyan, an MP from the Armenia faction, that he would "take their last boot off while they are hanging in limbo". Kocharyan replied that "Pashinyan can come up to him right now and take this last boot off him".

It should be noted that on August 25, National Security Service officers conducted searches at the apartment of opposition Armenia faction MP Levon Kocharyan, the son of second president Robert Kocharyan, as well as at companies affiliated with the Kocharyan family.  Robert Kocharyan and Sedrak Kocharyan were then detained and taken to the Anti-Corruption Committee for questioning. However, the condition of Robert Kocharyan, who underwent heart surgery in early August, sharply deteriorated, and he was hospitalized. On the same day, Robert Kocharyan was charged with particularly large-scale money laundering, abuse of office, and accepting a large bribe. Charges were brought against nine more people in connection with the case. On August 27, Kocharyan was remanded in custody for two months by a decision of the Anti-Corruption Court.

We should add that the political force of Armenia’s second president links his arrest to an attempt to neutralize one of the main opposition figures amid the Armenian authorities’ readiness to make new concessions to Azerbaijan.