Thursday, June 25 2020 15:18

ArmInfo.The defense party of the RA President Robert Kocharyan made a decision to withdraw his appeal from the Constitutional Court.

As lawyer Aram Orbelian noted in an interview with reporters on June  25, the decision was made taking into account previously approved  constitutional amendments, which, according to him, are illegal.   Moreover, as was noted, there are no problems with the composition of  the Constitutional Court, which, according to the approved  amendments, should be changed. Explaining the decision, Orbelian said  it was unacceptable that in the context of constitutional amendments,  the Kocharyan case was also mentioned by some lawmakers. Based on  this, based on discussions with the former president himself, it was  decided to withdraw the appeal from the Constitutional Court.

At the same time, the lawyer expressed confidence that the Kocharyan  case would be won in the court of first instance, and Judge Anna  Danibekyan, on the basis of advisory opinions of the ECHR and the  Venice Commission, would at least terminate the criminal case. As for  the likelihood of a repeated appeal to the Constitutional Court, here  Orbelian succinctly remarked that "the time will show".  To recall,   the Constitutional Court was to consider the statement in the case of  Robert Kocharian on July 7.  Robert Kocharyan is charged with  overthrowing the Constitutional system in the framework of the events  of March 1, 2008. To recall, in 2019 the Constitutional Court  appealed to the ECHR and the Venice Commission on the basis of  statements by the court of general jurisdiction of Yerevan and Robert  Kocharian himself regarding the definitions of Article 300.1 of the  RA Criminal Code, on which the former president is accused. Prior to  receiving advisory opinions, the proceedings in the Kocharyan case in  the Constitutional Court were suspended on the basis of paragraph 5  of part 1 of Article 56 of the law "On the Constitutional Court".

According to the statement of the RA Prosecutor General's Office, a  study of the advisory opinion of the Venice Commission shows that,  contrary to the allegations, it does not have any opinions about the  uncertainty of the norm establishing the corpus delicti for the  overthrow of the constitutional system established by Article 300.1  of the RA Criminal Code. <It becomes obvious that the wording of the  offense provided for by the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia  for overthrowing the constitutional order in terms of certainty  compares favorably with the wording of similar wording in other  states. The positions of the Venice Commission also confirm the  viability and correctness of the legal interpretations laid down in  the basis of the charges brought against the second President of the  Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharian, "said the Prosecutor General.  The body holds a similar opinion regarding the conclusion of the  ECHR, noting that the overthrow of the constitutional order was  considered a crime both under the Criminal Code of Armenia which was  in force in 2008 and the current version of the Criminal Code of the  Republic of Armenia. The Prosecutor General's Office notes that the  advisory opinion of the Grand Chamber of the ECHR justified the fact  that the actions of the investigative structures against the former  president were and remain legitimate.