Court session in Robert Kocharyan case turns tense

PanARMENIAN.Net - A court hearing in the case of Armenia’s second president, Robert Kocharyan, and others took place in a tense atmosphere at the Anti-Corruption Court.

At the start of the session, Sargis Kloyan insulted attorney Aram Vardevanyan, calling him a "liar." However, Judge Sargis Petrosyan did not impose any sanctions, opting instead for a warning. Vardevanyan acknowledged Kloyan’s grief but stated that this did not justify such remarks, Pastinfo reported.

"I respect your age and the court, so I will not respond to you, but your statement should have legal consequences," Vardevanyan said.

Attorney Lusine Sahakyan criticized the court’s inconsistent application of sanctions, noting that she had repeatedly been penalized in previous cases, whereas in this instance, the court chose to refrain from any disciplinary action. Another attorney, Mihran Poghosyan, called for the trial to proceed in a legally sound manner, free from offensive remarks.

During the session, Robert Kocharyan criticized the court’s approach and suggested clarifying the rules of conduct to prevent arbitrary sanctions.

"I don’t want you to sanction my lawyer, because you might impose penalties three times and then revoke his right to defend me, leaving me without an experienced lawyer. I have reason to believe this court has such an agenda. That’s why my suggestion is this: set clear guidelines on facial expressions and gestures to avoid sanctions. Perhaps with illustrations or some other method, but we need to understand how to behave in court," Kocharyan said.

He recalled that in a previous session, his lawyer Aram Orbelyan was reprimanded for a facial expression, while he himself was warned for a hand gesture.

Robert Kocharyan, Yuri Khachaturov, Seyran Ohanyan, and Armen Gevorgyan are among the defendants in the case related to the events of March 1, 2008. In 2021, Armenia’s Constitutional Court ruled Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code unconstitutional, leading to the dismissal of the case regarding the overthrow of the constitutional order. However, on September 12, the Court of Cassation overturned the decision to dismiss the case, allowing for a reclassification of the charges.