Former President Robert Kocharyan has been placed in pre-trial detention for a period of two months. On Tuesday, Kocharyan, his son and four other individuals were arrested on charges of large-scale corruption during his time in office.

The Prosecutor General’s Office initiated criminal prosecution against Robert Kocharyan for abusing his official authority, accepting a particularly large bribe, and laundering particularly large sums of money. Criminal proceedings have also been initiated against nine other individuals, including Sedrak Kocharyan, former President Serzh Sargsyan, former Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan, former Yerevan Mayor Gagik Beglaryan and others. Kocharyan’s son, Sedrak Kocharyan, was also placed into pre-trial detention for a two-month period on Wednesday.

A travel ban has been imposed as a preventive measure against Sargsyan after he was called to the Anti-Corruption Committee and released the same day.

On Tuesday, Kocharyan was taken to hospital after being transported from the Anti-Corruption Court. The hearing on the investigators’ motion to remand him in custody continued in his absence.

https://oc-media.org/armenias-former-president-robert-kocharyan-and-son-arrested-on-corruption-charges/

The arrest came a day after a heated discussion in parliament, during which Pashinyan told Levon Kocharyan, an opposition MP and one of Robert Kocharyan’s sons, that their family’s assets would be seized entirely as part of the new government’s plan to return illegally acquired state assets.

In response, Levon Kocharyan criticised Pashinyan for inciting political persecution and interfering in the work of the courts, arguing that this behaviour is incompatible with democratic values.

The next day, the Anti-Corruption Committee conducted searches at several dozen addresses belonging to the second President of Armenia and his family members as part of the criminal proceedings investigating corruption crimes. Law enforcement officers also searched Levon Kocharyan’s apartment.

Levon Kocharyan’s defence team will now appeal the decision to search the apartment. Kocharyan’s lawyer, Erik Aleksanyan, argued that the search amounts to launching actual criminal prosecution against him, which means the Prosecutor General should have first submitted a request to parliament to strip Kocharyan of his parliamentary immunity.

Robert Kocharyan’s office has denounced the action as the latest political ‘attack’. Levon Kocharyan accused Pashinyan of sharing the details of the ongoing investigation and leading the investigation while doing so, after Pashinyan threatened his opponent in the parliament shortly after the arrests.

An MP for the opposition Armenia Alliance, Kristine Vardanyan, said that the best way to keep any property during the rule of Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party is to reach an agreement with them or not engage in politics at all. She also called out the other alleged illegally acquired properties by the team members of Civil Contract, such as millionaire businessperson Khachatur Sukiasyan, who, in her words, does not get the same attention from authorities as the Koharyan family.