Not a single fact has been presented to justify keeping the Kocharyans in custody: Armenia Alliance

The Armenia bloc has released a statement noting that the hearing in the case of Robert Kocharyan, the second president of the Republic of Armenia, and his son Sedrak Kocharyan will take place today at 16:30.

“The case of Kocharyan father and son, regardless of its groundlessness and unlawfulness, concerns exclusively financial accusations, and there are no grounds for claims of a risk of obstruction of the preliminary investigation.

We will explain.

The case is based on financial documents that have in effect already been seized, decrypted and studied.

Now the question: how can regulatory acts in force at the time, bank statements, Cadastre Committee documents, published government decisions or their approval by the president, carried out in the established procedure, be altered 15, 20 or 25 years later?

Prosecutor Tsovak Mnatsakanyan and investigator Smbat Mkhitaryan have still not publicly explained exactly how the Kocharyans could obstruct the investigation and why it is necessary to hold them specifically in custody.

Since 2022, in addition to detention, many alternative preventive measures have been provided for. The question of detention can be considered only if there are specific grounds that rule out the application of these alternative measures.

To date, not a single piece of information, not a single fact, and not even a reasoned assumption has been presented that would explain why the application of other preventive measures was ruled out.

On October 22, the Anti-Corruption Court will hold the hearings postponed the previous day. The court will consider the prosecutor’s office’s motions to extend by another two months the unlawful arrest of the Kocharyans, father and son.

The hearing in Robert Kocharyan’s case will take place at 16:30 and will be chaired by Judge Vardges Stepanyan,” the statement says.