Lawyer on Kocharyan case: All means of curbing lawlessness in the country have been exhausted in Armenia

ArmInfo.  In Armenia, all means at the institutional level that could put a stop to the permissiveness taking place in the country have been exhausted. Attorney Tatevik Soghoyan stated this at a press conference in Yerevan on September 14, presenting details of the case involving Armenia’s second president, Robert Kocharyan, and members of his family.

Thus, speaking about the searches conducted at the homes of Kocharyan and his family members, the attorney noted that it appeared that their purpose was not to uncover a crime, but to stage some kind of show. In particular, as the attorney explained, this involved seizing some expensive items from the apartment in order to subsequently distribute various videos featuring them.

"I once again urge law enforcement agencies to act within the law and not violate people’s right to privacy, as well as not turn criminal-procedure actions into a show. These video materials have not yet been published, but I assure you that they are laughable. It is funny that people’s wedding gifts are presented as items obtained through money laundering. It is difficult to imagine that the 15,000 drams lying on the table are funds obtained illegally in 2001. And although all of this is funny, on the other hand, it also causes sadness. Because once again we are seeing that the law enforcement system has ceased to perform its function and has instead turned into a system that violates the law and carries out repression and propaganda," the attorney emphasized.

Sogoyan said that the defense had already appealed the decisions to conduct the searches.  According to her, the complaint is based not only on the fact that the searches were illegal, but also on the fact that, as a result of these actions, items were seized that had nothing to do with the charges brought. "As I have already said, the goal is to use them later to distribute propaganda videos, or simply to cause emotional pain to the people in whose apartment this took place," Sogoyan noted.

Speaking about the arrests, the attorney pointed out that they were completely unfounded. In particular, according to her, it was stated that "Armenia’s second president Robert Kocharyan, as a good father, may, within the framework of the case initiated against his son Sedrak Kocharyan, be interested in taking certain actions, in connection with which he was placed under arrest." "To distort the institution of pretrial detention to such an extent and to devalue a person’s freedom so completely is simply unacceptable," the attorney emphasized.

Sogoyan assured that they did not intend to limit themselves to the steps they had taken so far and were prepared to go as far as international institutions in order to demonstrate the absurdity of the entire case. "We must understand that we have no other alternative. In Armenia, all means at the institutional level that could put a stop to this permissiveness have been exhausted. Today, we cannot name a single system capable of doing this. This instrument, used for political purposes, is becoming increasingly repulsive. But our struggle is not ending; we intend to continue looking for new platforms where we can raise these issues with our international partners," the attorney concluded.

It should be recalled that on August 25, National Security Council officers conducted searches at the apartment of Levon Kocharyan, a member of the opposition "Armenia" faction and the son of second president Robert Kocharyan, as well as at companies affiliated with the Kocharyan family.  Robert Kocharyan and Sedrak Kocharyan were then detained and taken to the Anti-Corruption Committee for questioning. However, the condition of Robert Kocharyan, who underwent heart surgery in early August, sharply deteriorated, and he was hospitalized. On the same day, Robert Kocharyan was charged with money laundering on an especially large scale, abuse of official position, and receiving a large bribe. Charges were brought against another 9 individuals as part of the case. On August 27, Kocharyan was arrested for two months by a decision of the Anti-Corruption Court.

It should be added that the political force of Armenia’s second president links his arrest to an attempt to neutralize one of the opposition’s principal representatives amid the Armenian authorities’ readiness to make new concessions to Azerbaijan.