What is going in Armenia`s courts legal hooliganism  - Robert  Kocharyan 

ArmInfo. If the current court hearing continues, the defense will file a motion for the judge to recuse himself. This was stated to journalists on October 11 by the second President of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharyan,  against whom the prosecution filed a new lawsuit to hold him accountable for the events of March 1, 2008.

According to the former president, today such a concept as justice is  practically non-existent in Armenia.  As an example, he cited the  fact of his more than 1.5-year imprisonment on the basis of a  non-existent article in the Criminal Code. "Until now, neither the  prosecutor's office nor any other state body has apologized for this  incident. More than manipulating the facts, they are trying to return  the case to court, based on their own goals," Robert Kocharyan said.

He added that what is happening today is legal hooliganism, and this  is not only about this specific case, but in general. "You are all  witnesses of political persecution, the number of arrests, everything  that the authorities do after the elections to local government  bodies, wanting to have the desired candidates in them, which simply  causes a feeling of shame," said the second president of the Republic  of Armenia.

He noted that no one held the hands of the authorities for six years  to conduct a full investigation into the circumstances of March 1,  2008. Kocharyan emphasized that sometimes such statements are made  regarding those events that can be classified as absurd. 

"The Cassation Court of Armenia challenged the decision of the  primary court that terminated the criminal case, but the same court  has no right to ignore the decision of the Constitutional Court,  which recognized Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code, under which the  charge was brought, as unconstitutional. This article does not exist,  and, therefore, the charge that was brought against me in 2018 was  absent from the very beginning," the ex-president said, adding that  it is impossible to even change something that does not exist. 

The Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia accuses Robert Kocharyan  of involvement in the events of March 1, 2008. In addition to former  President Robert Kocharyan, the defendants include former Defense  Minister Seyran Ohanyan, former CSTO Secretary General Yuri  Khachaturov and former Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan.  Earlier, the Constitutional Court found the provision of the article  of the Criminal Code under which the defendants were charged to be  unconstitutional. The first two court instances terminated the  criminal prosecution of the defendants, and the Cassation Court sent  the case to the Anti-Corruption Court for reconsideration, arguing  that the provisions of the Criminal Code were interpreted  incorrectly, and in light of the large number of victims, the  perpetrators should be punished.

Following the presidential elections held in Armenia on February 19,  2008, mass protests began in the country, led by the first President  of the Republic of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan. He and his supporters  did not accept the election results, according to which Serzh  Sargsyan was elected president. Demonstrators set up tents on Freedom  Square in Yerevan and held marches and rallies in different parts of  the capital. On March 1, 2008, mass riots and clashes between  protesters and police occurred, resulting in the deaths of 10 people.  Two of the victims were police officers.