A court in Yerevan on Saturday ordered Armenia’s former President Robert Kocharian released from prison pending the outcome of his and three other former officials’ trial on coup charges.
Announcing the decision, the judge presiding over the trial, Davit Grigorian, cited written guarantees of Kocharian’s “adequate behavior” which were signed by the current and former presidents of Nagorno-Karabakh during a court hearing on Thursday.
Kocharian, who governed Armenia from 1998-2008, was set free about an hour later, according to his lawyers.
The trial prosecutors said they will appeal against the judge’s decision which sparked jubilant scenes among Kocharian supporters present in the small courtroom. The latter included his two sons.
The younger son, Levon Kocharian, said his father’s release from custody was “somewhat expected” for him. “The process is not over,” he told reporters. “The main parts are still to come.”
Armenia -- Riot police separate supporters and opponents of former President Robert Kocharian demosntrating outside a court building in Yerevan, May 18, 2019.
Hundreds of other backers and critics of the 64-year-old ex-president demonstrated, meanwhile, outside the court building in the city’s Nor Nork district. Riot police deployed additional forces there to keep the two rival groups apart.
The first four preliminary sessions of the closely watched trial, which began on May 13, focused Kocharian’s and his lawyers’ demands for his release from custody. The prosecution led by Armenia’s Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian objected to them, saying that the defendant could obstruct justice and even flee the country if freed.
Kocharian dismissed the objections, arguing that he flew back from Europe shortly after being summoned for interrogation in June last year.
Kocharian was first arrested and charged in July with overthrowing the constitutional order in the wake of a disputed presidential election held in February 2008, two months before he served out his second and final presidential term.
The Special Investigative Service (SIS) says that he illegally used Armenian army units against supporters of his predecessor and main opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian, who protested against alleged electoral fraud. Kocharian denies the accusation as politically motivated.
Armenia -- Critics of former President Robert Kocharian protest outside a court building in Yerevan, May 18, 2019.
Eight protesters and two police officers were killed in street clashes that broke out in central Yerevan late on March 1, 2008. Citing the deadly violence, Kocharian declared a state of emergency and ordered army units into the capital on that night. Nobody has been prosecuted in connection with those deaths.
The same coup charges were also leveled against Kocharian’s former chief of staff Armen Gevorgian and two retired top army generals, Seyran Ohanian and Yuri Khachaturov. The three men, who have not been held in pre-trial detention, deny them.
Earlier this year, Kocharian and Gevorgian were also charged with bribe-taking. They reject this accusation as well.
On Friday, Kocharian’s lawyers showed journalists footage of the 2008 clashes which they said exonerates their client. The Office of the Prosecutor-General responded by accusing of them of resorting to “manipulations” and putting “psychological pressure” on Judge Grigorian.
In a statement, the prosecutors also warned that they could take unspecified measures to stop the “spread of these lies generated with the help of certain media outlets and real or fake social media users.”
One of the defense lawyers, Hayk Alumian, countered on Saturday that the authorities and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in particular themselves have been pressuring courts dealing with the high-profile case. In particular, Alumian said that earlier in the day a parliament deputy close to Pashinian, Hayk Sargsian, urged government supporters to rally outside the court and press the judge to keep Kocharian behind bars.
Armenia -- Supporters of former President Robert Kocharian demonstrate outside a court building in Yerevan, May 18, 2019.
Pashinian’s press secretary, Vladimir Karapetian, dismissed those claims shortly after Kocharian’s release. He said the court order showed that the Armenian judiciary enjoys “complete freedom” thanks to last year’s “velvet revolution” which brought Pashinian to power.
In a Facebook post, Karapetian also signaled Pashinian’s disapproval of that order. He said that “the old judicial system” continues to function in Armenia and to be mistrusted by the public.
Kocharian was already freed from custody in August. The Court of Appeals ruled at the time that Armenia’s constitution gives him immunity from prosecution on charges stemming from the dramatic events of February-March 2008.
Acting on prosecutors’ appeal, the higher Court of Cassation overturned that ruling in November, ordering the Court of Appeals to examine the case anew. The latter allowed law-enforcement authorities to press charges against Kocharian and again arrest him in December.