Armenian Prosecutor General`s Office to requalify actions of persons  involvced in March 1 case 

ArmInfo. The Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia has decided that the actions attributed  to Robert Kocharyan and others have the elements of a crime under another article of the Criminal Code, in connection with which the prosecutor will apply to the Anti-Corruption Court with the corresponding decision.

According to the information from the Prosecutor General's Office, on  September 12, 2024, the Anti- Corruption Chamber of the Cassation  Court published a decision made in the criminal case of Robert  Kocharyan, Seyran Ohanyan and others, which overturned the decision  of the Yerevan City Court of General Jurisdiction of April 6, 2021.  The case was sent to the Anti-Corruption Court for a new trial.

In particular, the Cassation Court stated that under the current  conditions, the decision of the court of first instance to terminate  the criminal prosecution against Robert Kocharyan, Seyran Ohanyan,  Armen Gevorgyan and Yuri Khachaturov is not lawful. It is also noted  that the prosecution was entitled to change the legal assessment of  the actions incriminated to the abovementioned persons after the  Constitutional Court recognized Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code of  the Republic of Armenia as unconstitutional and before the court  retired to the deliberation room.

, the supervisory body noted.

In the interests of the case, no additional details are provided at  this stage.

In 2008, after the regular presidential elections held on February  19, in which Serzh Sargsyan won, riots broke out in Yerevan,  resulting in clashes with law enforcement officials. The Armenian  opposition, led by the first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who also  ran in the elections, has been holding rallies in the center of  Yerevan since February 20, expressing dissatisfaction with the  results of the vote. On March 1-2, the protests resulted in riots and  clashes between protesters and law enforcement forces, resulting in  the deaths of 10 people, including police officers, and over 200  injuries of varying severity.

In 2021, the court decided to terminate the criminal case on "March  1", since the Constitutional Court recognized Article 300.1  (overthrow of the constitutional order), under which the second  president Robert Kocharyan, former chief of the General Staff Yuri  Khachaturov and former defense minister Seyran Ohanyan were charged,  as unconstitutional. However, the Cassation Court found that the  lower courts, when deciding to terminate the case, committed a  judicial error and violated criminal procedure legislation.  

The court considered it unlawful to terminate the case without the  possibility of reclassifying the charges.  In early 2024, the  Cassation Court, at the request of the Prosecutor's Office, appealed  to the Constitutional Court with a request to determine the issue of  compliance of Part 3 of Article 309.1 and a number of other  (recognized as unconstitutional) articles with the Constitution in  order to reclassify the unconstitutional charges brought against  Robert Kocharyan. At the meeting on July 22, the Constitutional Court  of Armenia, contrary to the previously adopted decision, recognized  Part 3 of Article 309.1 of the Criminal Procedure Code as consistent  with the Constitution.