Republican Party on the Decision to Detain Robert Kocharyan

The Republican Party's executive body has released a statement regarding the decision announced yesterday by the Court of Appeals concerning the second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan.

The statement specifically mentions:

• The Court of Appeals has grossly violated the principles of competitive trial, making a decision based solely on political grounds.
• This process has no correlation with democracy, the rule of law, and the independence of the judiciary.
• The third detention of Robert Kocharyan is yet another manifestation of ongoing political revenge, attempting to distract the attention of the Armenian people from the many problems accumulating in the country daily.
• Such developments harm the internal political situation of the Republic of Armenia and its international standing.
• At the same time, we emphasize that the efforts of the ruling propaganda machine to explain the continuous decline in Nikol Pashinyan's rating by the fact that Robert Kocharyan or other opposition figures are not in custody is at least ridiculous.
• The process of societal division is being continually encouraged in the country, which becomes more dangerous against the backdrop of serious regional challenges.
• Such decisions demonstrate that the announced judicial and legal reforms and statements about increasing the independence of the courts are false.
• The Republican Party will also raise this issue and its developments on relevant international platforms and formats.