URGENT: Court orders Kocharyan to be re-arrested

A Yerevan Court of Appeals has ordered former President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan to be arrested again.

Kocharyan was released from pre-trial detention on May 18th but the prosecution filed complaints seeking a higher court to overrule the decision. The complaint was also filed by the families of the March 1 victims. The court also invalidated the personal guarantees of President of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan and former President Arkady Ghukasyan, which was the bail for Kocharyan’s earlier release.

Kocharyan, along with several other former officials, is charged with “overthrowing Constitutional Order” during the 2008 March protests in Yerevan when 8 protesters and 2 security officers died. The former President is accused of unlawfully ordering the military to intervene. He vehemently denies wrongdoing.

The presiding judge was Armen Danielyan.

On June 24, Danielyan requested police to assign a security detail to him.