The lawyers representing Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan in the criminal case alleging his complicity in 2008 post-election events, have filed a motion to recuse judge Artur Mkrtchyan set to hear their bail plea, citing lack of grounds for assigning the case to him.
Kocharyan’s lawyer Aram Orbelyan told reporters on Tuesday he is dissatisfied with the court arguments for the selection of the judge to examine the motion seeking to free Kocharyan from pre-trial arrest on bail.
“The court set to deal with a case must be formed legally. It isn’t clear why the case has been assigned specifically to judge Arthur Mkrtchyan from the 9-10 duty judges,” he said, calling the formed court ‘arbitrary and unlawful’.
The lawyer also added state prosecutors have objected their motion.
Presiding judge Nelly Baghdasaryan recused herself last week from hearing the bail plea of Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan. The move came after the state persecutors filed a self-withdrawal moti...
