Aram Orbelyan: We will probably demand to bring to responsibility the officials, who keep Kocharyan`s passport

ArmInfo. Back in 2017, the Constitutional Court decided that keeping a passport of the accused by the body conducting the investigation contradicts to the Constitution, if there is no decision on the choice of a measure of restraint against the accused, the lawyer of the second president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan Aram Orbelyan stated on September 5 at a press conference,.

"As long as there is no decision on a measure of restraint against the accused, the investigating authority has no right to confiscate his passport. The fact that the passport was taken by them is a violation of the law, which should lead to consequences in the disciplinary sphere. We will also discuss the issue of bringing some officials to criminal liability. I also want to emphasize that we applied to the investigative body demanding their allowance to publish separate episodes of the investigation, of course, to the extent that does not contradict the secrecy of the investigation, but they the investigative body rejected our request. At the same time we see how the head of the Special Investigation Service from time to time publishes certain details of the case. This gives us reason to assume that under the pretext of "investigation secrets" the Special Investigation Service hides its illegal actions, "Orbelyan said.

Moreover, Orbelyan also noted that the defenders of Kocharyan will most likely appeal against the decision of the investigative body to prohibit him from leaving the country. "I want to emphasize that we have not yet received the decision of the Special Investigation Service, but I suppose that there is nothing new there, it is very difficult to give any assessment without having a document in hand.  However, since Robert Kocharyan was released by the court on the basis of the constitutional immunity applied to the head of state, there can not be criminal prosecution against him.When the document is received, if it is determined that the decision is illegal, we will appeal against it, "the lawyer said.

To note, the head of the office of the second president of Armenia Victor Soghomonyan stated that Kocharyan will leave the country for a few days for medical examination. After that, the SIS confiscated the second president's passport without any grounds, which became an obstacle to Kocharyan's departure abroad. Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal, having reconsidered the decision of the court of general jurisdiction to apply arrest against Kocharyan as a measure of restraint, released him, referring to the constitutional immunity of the heads of state, without defining any measure of restraint for the second president. Already after the statements of Kocharyan's lawyers about the unlawfulness of such a step, the SIS post factum made a decision to apply a  measure of restraint against Kocharyan a written undertaking not to leave, in order to have a legal basis not to return the passport to him.

To recall, on July 28 the first instance court of Shengavit district of Yerevan granted the request of the Special Investigation Service of Armenia  about the election of arrest as a measure of restraint against the  second President Robert Kocharyan for a period of 2 months for the  overthrow of the constitutional order in the criminal case on  dispersal protest actions on March 1, 2008. On August 13 the Armenian Court of Appeal granted the petition of the  lawyers of ex- President Robert Kocharyan and canceled the decision of  the first instance court.  The Special Investigative Service of Armenia  stated that the decision was illegal, and the Criminal Court of  Appeal went beyond its powers. On August 20, the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia at the Court of Cassation appealed the decision of the Court of Appeal to release former Armenian  President Robert Kocharyan from the arrest.