Case being in court raises risk of Kocharyan’s escape: prosecutor presents grounds for keeping 2d president in custody

The court hearing about the preventive measure of Armenia’s second president Robert Kocharyan continues at Yerevan Avan and Nork Marash court of general jurisdiction.

After long lasting discussions prosecutor Petros Petrsoyan presented the grounding for selecting arrest as Kocharyan’s preventive measure.

According to Petrosyan, it is enough for court to study the secret order signed by that time defense minister Mikael Harutynyan, the protocols of interrogation of a number of witnesses.

The prosecutor stated that the protocols of the witnesses, those who participated at the 2008 consultation are serious grounds for the charges.

The prosecutor also referred to the corruption case based on the report and testimonies of businesswoman Silva Hambardzumyan. He said the case is being examined and the risks to hide from the examinations grow.

The prosecutor claimed that the case is in court and in such situation Robert Kocharyan’s escape possibility raises.

In response to judge’s question whether after the prolonging Kocharyan’s arrest on March 15 data has been received during the investigative activities which may testify Kocharyan’s intention to flee, the prosecutor failed to give clear response, noting that all the materials have been sent to court during the examination of the issue on prolonging the arrest.