ArmInfo. I have not asked about the state of health of the second President of Armenia Robert Kocharian, and I have not visited him at the hospital. On October 22, Gagik Tsarukyan, leader of the Prosperous Armenia party, said in an interview with reporters. To recall, Kocharyan was operated on October 9 at the Izmirlyan MC, and yesterday he was discharged and transferred to the Yerevan-Kentron Penitentiary Institution.
''I learn news about Kocharyan only from the media. I am interested in all the presidents - the first, second, third and fourth, as well as the prime minister, since I live in this country. You constantly want to connect my name with one of them, but Tsarukyan has no obligations to anyone. Tsarukyan wants development and prosperity for the country and people, and we have all the opportunities to achieve this goal'', he said. On July 26, 2018, the Special Investigation Service of Armenia charged Kocharian with the overthrow of the constitutional system in the framework of the criminal case on the dispersal of protests on March 1, 2008. The former president is also charged with receiving bribes on an especially large scale. Kocharian believes the charges are trumped-up political persecution. In 2018, Kocharyan was arrested twice. In late June, he was arrested for the third time.
The Constitutional Court of Armenia declared the article of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which lists cases in which criminal prosecution is not possible, unconstitutional and invalid. This decision was taken in view of the fact that the article does not provide for the inviolability of officials with special protection. Kocharian's lawyers filed a petition with the Yerevan Court of First Instance, demanding his release, which was rejected.