A Yerevan court on Wednesday, May 13 rejected a petition to release second Armenian president Robert Kocharyan from prison, despite personal guarantees from former Prime Ministers of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), Aysor.am reports.

Former PMs Vazgen Manukyan, Khosrov Harutyunyan, Karen Karapetyan and former premier of Artsakh Anushavan Danielyan attended the latest court hearing to submit their personal guarantees for Kocharyan's release.

The next court hearing is scheduled for May 19 at 1 p.m.

Kocharyan, who was the President of Armenia in 1998–2008, is accused of overthrowing the constitutional order and money laundering. The first case is related to the crackdown on peaceful protesters marching against the results of the presidential election in March 2008. At the time, ten people were killed in clashes between protesters and the police, about 200 were injured. At the end of August 2018, the court released Kocharyan on bail but he was incarcerated again on December 7 of 2019.