Armenia’s Court of Appeal has rejected a motion by former President Robert Kocharyan’s lawyers to change his pretrial detention measure.
Operative Information Center-OMM, citing Armenian media, reports that Kocharyan’s lawyer Aram Orbelyan announced the decision.
“The decision was based on the same grounds as many other motions that have been rejected. It appears that general, formulaic wording is being used without carefully examining our appeal,” he said.
Orbelyan noted that Kocharyan is accused of carrying out his constitutional duties. He added that the period of the alleged act attributed to the former president in another episode of the case ended about 20 years ago, while the period attributed to his son, Sedrak, ended about 15 years ago.
Robert Kocharyan was detained on Aug. 25 and charged in a case involving the alleged unlawful acquisition of property. According to investigators, during his presidency he conspired with other people and used his official authority to acquire several socially and economically significant properties below market value. On Aug. 27, the Anti-Corruption Committee said Kocharyan had been remanded in custody for two months. His son, Sedrak Kocharyan, is also in custody. The criminal case involves 35 locations belonging to the Kocharyans, and some of the companies have been sealed.
