14:54, 19 May 2019

Ex-president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, released from custody

Activists near the building of the court that has ruled to release Robert Kocharyan. May 18, 2019. Yerevan. Photo: screenshot of the video https://youtu.be/02EItaKfRvM

The court has released the second president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, under the guarantee of the incumbent and a former presidents of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). This decision provoked a stormy reaction in hundreds of Kocharyan's supporters and opponents, who gathered outside the courthouse.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 16, Bako Saakyan, the NKR president, and Arkady Gukasyan, his predecessor in the post, guaranteed to the court that Robert Kocharyan would not hide if released from custody, and deposited a bail for him. The court sessions were held against the backdrop of mass actions of Kocharyan's supporters and opponents.

His opponents, present in the courtroom, met the decision to release Kocharyan with shouts "Shame!", while his supporters, in their turn, chanted "Victory!"

Mr Kocharyan is accused within the case of clashes of law enforcers with oppositional protesters on March 1-2, 2008. He is also charged with receiving a bribe of three million US dollars. Kocharyan himself has stated that the decision to disperse the 2008 actions was made because security services had reported that demonstrators were arming themselves.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 18, 2019 at 04:12 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Tigran Petrosyan

Source: CK correspondent