Robert Kocharyan’s rights must be respected: justice minister

Armenia’s justice minister Artak Zeynalyan told the reporters that he was interrogated in the sidelines of March 1 criminal case.

“I have been interrogated in the sidelines of March 1 criminal case as representative of Levon Ter-Petrosyan who appealed the results of 2008 elections at the Constitutional Court,” the minister said.

He said he cannot be currently anyone’s representative as now he is government's representative and  holds the post of the minister.

Asked whether he again tried to meet with the key defendant in March 1case Armenia’s second president Robert Kocharyan, after the latter rejected the first meeting proposal, Zeynalyan said, “I am justice minister and the jails and penitentiaries are under my subordination. I am responsible for the policy in this sector and for the conditions. I can visit any cell, see the conditions. Robert Kocharyan is alone in the cell, we are in unequal conditions in this dispute. We must respect the rights of the person and not flare up the dispute permanently. We may present witnesses for confirming our views. We do not present any facts and views about this matter as we respect human rights,” Zeynalyan said.