Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan taken from courtroom to hospital

Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan was taken straight from the court hearing to the hospital where he was hospitalized, his son Levon Kocharyan told RIA Novosti.

Levon Kocharyan told his father's supporters gathered outside the courthouse: "The president was taken to the hospital on the orders of doctors. The hearing will continue with his lawyers. The verdict will most likely be announced in the morning."

On August 25, the republic's Anti-Corruption Committee announced the arrest of the politician and his son Sedrak Kocharyan in Yerevan.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia confirmed that a case had been opened against the former president on several charges. These are abuse of power, bribery, and money laundering. The defendants include another former head of state, Serzh Sargsyan, and former Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan, who died in 2007. Former Yerevan Mayor Gagik Beglaryan and six others are also involved in the case.

Sevak Khachatryan, a deputy from the opposition “Armenia Faction,” believes that the reason for Kocharyan’s arrest may have been a verbal altercation between him and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at a government meeting on August 24.

In June, the politician’s lawyer, Aram Orbelyan, said that the Central Election Commission had authorized the initiation of criminal proceedings against Kocharyan, the leader of the Armenia Bloc. The lawyer explained that the case concerns real estate transactions from 2004 to 2009.

However, his client had no involvement in these transactions and that all the charges were trumped up. He added that the investigation under the article on abuse of office has been ongoing since 2018. For information, Robert Kocharyan served as President of Armenia from 1998 to 2008.