ArmInfo.The meeting of the court of general jurisdiction in the case of the 2nd President of Armenia Robert Kocharian was interrupted a few minutes after the start of the consideration of the petition of the defense. It is still unknown whether it will continue today.
According to the Kocharyan's lawyer Aram Orbelyan, they submitted a petition for the disqualification of Judge Artur Mkrtchyan. As Orbelyan explained, he and the judge's son are on friendly terms, and in order that the court's decision would not be a reason for speculation in the future, the former president's lawyers 'team decided to dismiss the judge. The prosecutor's office, in turn, opposed the petition.
To note, today the court of first instance in Yerevan will simultaneously consider two petitions filed by the defense and the prosecution: on the use of an alternative preventive measure against Kocharyan - release on bail - and the extension of his arrest for two months. In a court the third judge, Arthur Mkrtchyan, presided.
Earlier, the judge on the case of changing the preventive measure against Kocharyan Nelly Baghdasaryan took the challenge. She did not explain the reasons for which she took the challenge. On the eve, the prosecutor and the investigator who were present at the court session demanded that Baghdasaryan recuse herself. In turn, the defense has opposed. Later, in a conversation with journalists, Kocharyan's lawyer Hayk Alumyan noted that the demand for the judge's self-withdrawal is related to his earlier decision on another case that is not related to Kocharyan. In which case, the lawyer refrained from commenting. The consideration of the case on changing the preventive measure to the ex-president after the judge's self- withdrawal Nelly Baghdasaryan was entrusted to David Grigoryan, however, he also took a withdrawal, explaining that he was not the duty judge.
Earlier, the Special Investigation Service (SIS) sent a petition to the court of general jurisdiction of Yerevan to extend the term of arrest of the second president Robert Kocharian for two months. At the same time, Kocharyan's defense submitted a petition to the Special Investigation Service to stop the prosecution. Lawyers believe that Kocharyan cannot be accused under the article "overthrow of the constitutional system" in the case of the events of 2008, because at that time there was no crime in the Armenian Criminal Code in this article or in the crime it provided. Recall that on January 10, the judge on the case of changing the measure of restraint regarding Kocharyan took a rejection, and the meeting was postponed indefinitely.