Friday, June 19 2020 13:49

ArmInfo. The Venice Commission  published its advisory opinion in connection with the statement of  the Constitutional Court on the constitutionality of Article 300.1 of  the RA Criminal Code. The lawyer of the second president of Armenia  Robert Kocharyan Aram Vardevanyan stated this during a press  conference.

The lawyer said that regarding the charges the Kocharyan case is  unique. "The Venice Commission noted that the accusations of the  second president of Armenia are very vague. The Commission notes that  the wording associated with the overthrow of the Constitutional  system, except for Armenian legislation, is not found anywhere else",  Vardevanyan said.

The lawyer noted that the wording of article 300.1 is very vague, and  this leads to the fact that it cannot be interpreted in the narrow  sense, which is a violation of the requirements of the commission.  Also, according to Vardevanyan, the Venice Commission concluded that  under consideration of a particular case, controversial points should  be interpreted in favor of the defendant.

''The Venice Commission also noted that when it comes to the  overthrow of the Constitutional system, the use of violence is  implied. There is no such wording in the Kocharyan case. In fact, our  experience in this case is unique, but this uniqueness is negative",  Vardevanyan said. He also stated that if the Constitutional Court  considers article 300.1 to be contrary to the Constitution, the  criminal case will be dismissed.  It should be noted that the second  President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan is accused of overthrowing the  Constitutional system in the country in the framework of the events  of March 1, 2008. Yesterday, the Criminal Court of Appeal decided to  release Kocharyan on bail of 2 billion drams.