Kocharyan defense questions prosecution standards

PanARMENIAN.Net - During a court hearing in the case involving Armenia's second president, Robert Kocharyan, and other defendants, the court considered motions concerning his constitutional immunity and restrictions related to his absence from proceedings.

Defense lawyer Aram Orbelyan cited the relevant article of the Constitution, arguing that the president enjoys immunity and, even after leaving office, cannot be prosecuted for actions arising from the exercise of presidential powers, Aravot.am reported.

"We have three issues. The first concerns the presumption of innocence. You cannot draw conclusions about guilt, because any such conclusion would lead to a violation of the Constitution," Orbelyan said.

According to the defense, if the court were to conclude at this stage that "the case materials indicate that Kocharyan acted out of personal interest and exceeded his authority," it would undermine the presumption of innocence.

The lawyer added**,** "There is no need to assess whether those actions were good or bad. They should not be examined at all. The alleged personal interest that has been described was, in fact, the constitutional duty of the President of Armenia—to ensure the normal functioning of constitutional institutions."

Orbelyan argued that all actions attributed to Kocharyan fell within the scope of presidential immunity. He also said the defense considers the dispute to be constitutional in nature.

"The prosecution says the president took actions he had no authority to take. We, in turn, state that the prosecution has no authority to make such assessments and, by evaluating the actions of the country's president within criminal proceedings, is itself acting unlawfully," the lawyer said.

Referring to Kocharyan's decision to declare a state of emergency on March 1, 2008, Orbelyan stated: "The prosecution claims that Kocharyan unlawfully imposed the state of emergency through his decree. This is the central constitutional issue, one into which the prosecution had no right to enter. The prosecution is describing a legal act that remains in force and has not been repealed by the National Assembly as unlawful."

Orbelyan also referred to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's reported remark directed at Kocharyan, but the court interrupted him, saying it would not allow political statements by officials to be cited during the hearing.

"It is not political at all; it concerns me personally," Kocharyan interjected.

Presiding Judge Sargis Petrosyan replied: "I prohibit political statements from being voiced in my courtroom."

Kocharyan's lawyer responded: "Political statements made in 2008 should likewise not become the subject of these court proceedings."

Addressing the court, Kocharyan added: "If I had said, 'I'm going to kill the prime minister,' I certainly would have been arrested the next day, wouldn't I?"

Citing presidential immunity, Orbelyan asked the court to terminate the criminal proceedings against Kocharyan.

The case concerns the events of March 1, 2008. Armenia's second president, Robert Kocharyan, former Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan, former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan and former Chief of the General Staff Yuri Khachaturov were initially charged under Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code ("Overthrow of the Constitutional Order"). In 2021, the Constitutional Court ruled the article unconstitutional, and the case was dismissed. However, in 2023, the proceedings were reopened from the beginning after a new provision was introduced into the revised Criminal Code to support new charges.