Kocharian is Absent from Armenia with Court Permission: Office of the 2nd President

Former Armenian President Robert Kocharian will return to Armenia before the next court session. This information was shared with Sputnik Armenia by Bagrat Mikoyan, the spokesperson for the second president.

Previously, the 'Hraparak' newspaper reported that Kocharian had traveled to Germany for medical treatment.

"President Kocharian is absent from Armenia with court permission; the next court session is scheduled for April 18, and he will return to Armenia before then," Mikoyan stated.

It is noteworthy that the former president is involved in the 'Silva case'. The court session scheduled for February 14 had been postponed due to Kocharian's health issues. At that time, lawyer Hovhannes Khudoyan had mentioned that approximately five days would be required for the president to receive treatment. On March 7, Robert Kocharian did not appear in court due to health problems. The next court session has been set for April 18.

Recall that according to the charges, Kocharian, by using his official position, facilitated actions in favor of Silva Hambardzumyan, the director of 'TSSCI Armenia', by not obstructing the transaction of selling the company’s 100% share to a non-resident company in Armenia for the purpose of extracting resources from the provided mineral resource exploration licenses in February and May of 2008, resulting in receiving a bribe of 3 million dollars with the assistance of Samvel Mayrapetyan.

He has been charged under Article 311, Part 4, Clause 2 of the Criminal Code of Armenia (receiving a particularly large bribe).