Prosecutor’s Office Clarifies Regarding the Application of Bako Sahakyan and Arkadi Ghukasyan

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia has issued a clarification regarding the application directed to the Prosecutor General by Bako Sahakyan and Arkadi Ghukasyan concerning the release from detention of Robert Kocharian.

“On May 7, 2019, the application from the President of the Republic of Artsakh, Bako Sahakyan, and the second President of Artsakh, Arkadi Ghukasyan, requesting a change in the detention measure applied to Robert Kocharian was received by the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia.

Considering that the application of Bako Sahakyan and Arkadi Ghukasyan has been published by numerous media outlets, causing widespread public interest, we find it necessary to clarify the following:

According to Article 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Armenia, the measure of restraint can be changed by the body conducting the criminal proceedings.

The preliminary investigation into the criminal case, which includes charges against Robert Kocharian, has been completed with the filing of a bill of indictment and was sent to the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan for substantive consideration on April 29, 2019.

As this criminal case is currently under the jurisdiction of the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan, the Prosecutor’s Office is not the body conducting proceedings in this case. Therefore, the consideration of the application addressed to the Prosecutor General by the Presidents is, at this stage, outside the authority of the Prosecutor’s Office,” reads the clarification.