Indicted CSTO Secretary General arrives at courthouse, denies wrongdoing

CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov, who is indicted under the March 1 case, has arrived at the Court of General Jurisdiction in Shengavit district of Yerevan.

Khachaturov refused to give comments to media.

Asked numerously whether or not he accepts charges, Khachaturov said he does not, denying wrongdoing.

Amid an ongoing investigation into the March 1 case, the Special Investigative Service (SIS) of Armenia has charged CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov, the Armenian general who served as deputy minister of defense in 2008, with article 300.1 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code – breaching constitutional order in conspiracy with others – the same accusation faced by former President Robert Kocharyan.

The SIS has filed a motion to court seeking an arrest warrant to remand the general in custody.

In a statement, the SIS said it charged Khachaturov “based on sufficient evidence”.

Khachaturov was appointed head of CSTO, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, in 2017.

The March 1 case is an ongoing investigation into the deadly 2008 post-election unrest in Yerevan. Kocharyan was the outgoing president at the time, as Serzh Sargsyan was named winner of the presidential election. Mass protests erupted in Yerevan, which led to fatal clashes between security forces and demonstrators.