The Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction has turned down the motion filed by the lawyers of Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan to recuse judge Artur Mkrtchyan set to hear their bail plea.
The defense team has asked the court to disqualify the judge set to examine a motion of the ex-president to free him from pre-trial arrest on bail, claiming the court dealing with the case was formed ‘illegally’.
One of the ex-president’s lawyers, Hayk Alumyan told reporters the court has rejected the motion on grounds that a court chairman is entitled to assign a case to one of the on-duty judges at his/her discretion.
“This argument is unacceptable for us, but we cannot appe...
