ArmInfo.The court hearing on the case of the second president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan and other persons has been postponed to February 11 due to the late appearance of the judge at the hearing. This decision was made in the Anti-Corruption Court, where the consideration of the case on the events of March 1, 2008 continued.
The Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia accuses Robert Kocharyan of involvement in the events of March 1, 2008. In addition to 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 recognized the provision of the article of the Criminal Code under which the defendants were charged as unconstitutional. The first two courts terminated the criminal prosecution of the defendants, and the Court of Cassation 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.
After 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. The 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 the police occurred, resulting in the deaths of 10 people. Two of the victims were police officers.