Yerevan appellate court to issue ruling on ex-President Kocharyan on 13 Aug

The Yerevan Court of Appeals has completed the examination of the appeal to commute the arrest ruling against former President Robert Kocharyan, who is charged over post-election events in March 2008 in capital Yerevan.

The court, under the presiding judge Alexander Azaryan, will issue the verdict on the appeal on Monday, 13 August, at 4pm, Aram Orbelyan, one of the ex-president’s attorneys, told reporters after today’s court hearing.

Kocharyan, who served as Armenia’s president from 1998 to 2008, was charged on 26 July with “overthrowing the constitutional order in the country with a group of people” in the scope of the criminal case launched into the so-called March 1 events – the post presidential election crackdown in 2008.

A Yerevan court ruled to remand him into custody for two months on 27 July pending criminal investigation into the crackdown, that left eight civilians and two police officers dead.    

Kocharyan has dismissed the charges as politically motivated.