The chairman of Armenia’s Court of Appeals, Vazgen Rshtuni, accepted on Monday prosecutors’ demand that he recuse himself from hearings on immunity from prosecution claimed by former President Robert Kocharian.
Kocharian and his legal team cite an article of the Armenian constitution which stipulates: “During the term of his or her powers and thereafter, the President of the Republic may not be prosecuted and subjected to liability for actions deriving from his or her status.”
Earlier this year they asked a district court in Yerevan to free the ex-president and throw out coup charges brought against him in connection with the 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan.
The court ruled on April 12, however, that Kocharian cannot be protected from prosecution. It thus accepted prosecutors’ claims that the constitutional provision does not apply to him because his actions in February-March 2008 were illegal.
Kocharian and his lawyers appealed against that ruling before the case was assigned to Rshtuni.
Hrach Musheghian, a senior law-enforcement official leading a probe of the 2008 violence, said last week that Rshtuni cannot be impartial because he publicly approved of another Court of Appeals judge’s decision in August to free Kocharian from custody and uphold his immunity from prosecution. The prosecution backed Musheghian’s demand.
But one of Kocharian’s lawyers, Samvel Khudoyan, objected to it. “In my view, the consideration of our appeal has nothing to do with the opinion expressed by [Rshtuni,]” Khudoyan told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) on Monday.
Nevertheless, Rshtuni agreed to have another judge consider and rule on the appeal. He argued that “one of the parties to the trial lacks trust in me.”
Rshtuni also pointed to media allegations that he was instrumental in the May 18 decision by a district court judge, Davit Grigorian, to order Kocharian released from prison pending a verdict in the high-profile case. Rshtuni, who has strongly denied the allegations, said he wants to be exonerated by “relevant bodies.”
Grigorian also controversially decided to suspend Kocharian’s trial which began on May 13. He cited a “suspicion of discrepancy” between the Armenian constitution and the charges. And he suggested that the constitution does give the ex-president immunity from prosecution.