15 June 2019, 08:35
Two activists detained during trial of former President Kocharyan
One of the supporters and one of the opponents of the second Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, who gathered outside the courthouse in Yerevan, were detained for violating the order. The judge, who is considering Kocharyan's case, refused to self-disqualify.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 18, 2019, the court released Kocharyan under the guarantee of the incumbent and a former presidents of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). This caused discontent of the Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan. On May 23, the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Armenia appealed against the release of the former president.
On Friday, both Kocharyan's opponents and supporters gathered at the courthouse again. An opponent of the former president, who threw a bottle at his opponents, and a Kocharyan's supporter, who crossed the fence set up by the police, were detained, the press service of the Armenian Police has reported.
On June 3, Vazgen Rshtuni, Judge of the Court of Appeal, self-disqualified after a GPO's petition, which had doubted his impartiality; the consideration was handed over to Judge Armen Danielyan; however, the defence of Robert Kocharyan and victims' representatives spoke out against Danielyan.
Today, Judge Armen Danielyan has rejected the motions that demanded his self-disqualification, lodged by the defence and victims' representatives, the "Azatutyun" Radio has reported.
Robert Kocharyan is accused within the case of suppressing mass protests in Yerevan on March 1-2, 2008. He is also charged with taking a bribe of 3 million US dollars. Kocharyan has treated his case as politically motivated.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 14, 2019 at 07:45 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Armine Martirosyan Source: CK correspondent
