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Recently, the Russian media outlets have been actively discussing the decision of detention of the RA second president Robert Kocharyan. In this regard, we can often meet misinformation or arbitrary interpretation of the facts in the Russian media.
US Embassy as a mail carrier?
On August 1, Regnum.ru published an article titled “Kocharyan’s Case: The Trace of the US Embassy in Yerevan”. Citing its sources, the newspaper particularly mentioned that the investigators have laid the basis for Robert Kocharyan’s arrest on the documents received by the US embassy in Yerevan transferred by the people who were in contact with the second president of Armenia in 2008. According to the media outlet, Kocharyan’s attorneys characterized this as a state betrayal. Regnum refers to its sources very superficially, stating that the information has been received from sources standing close to Kocharyan’s attorneys.
Meanwhile, the SIS based on decree N 0038 signed by the Defense Minister on February 23, 2008. According to the decree, within the framework of the actual military situation in the city of Yerevan and the unconstitutional use of the armed forces, the new military management structure, formed by the decree, implemented movement of the army units. A number of units of the Armed Forces were withdrawn from the basic premises and moved to military units located in Yerevan or to military units located in the suburbs. It is obvious, that the Special Investigative Service does not need the US Embassy in Yerevan to receive the Decree N 0038 from the Defense Ministry.
Election fraud is not being discussed
On July 30, Life.ru published an article titled “Revenge without Borders or the Real Cause of Robert Kocharyan’s Arrest”, where Andrey Babitski speaks about Robert Kocharyan’s detention, accusing the investigative body of not having investigated the case thoroughly. According to the author of the article, without proving that the presidential electiona were falsified in 2008, and that Serzh Sargsyan had lost the election, the second president could not be blamed for overthrowing the constitutional order.
“At present, it turns out that Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s victory in 2008 is an axiom that does not need proof. Moreover, which one of the politicians that has influence on the investigative body is confident that these elections were rigged?” wrote Babitsky.
Putting aside the fairness of the results of the 2008 elections, it should be noted that the prosecutor does not blame Robert Kocharyan for falsifying the results of the election. As we have already mentioned, Kocharyan has been charged with Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code for overthrowing of the constitutional order using violence, hindering the political neutrality of the Armed Forces and using it against peaceful protesters.
The Constitutional Order is not the President
Later, on August 1,2018 Hraparak daily published political scientist and the editor-in-chief of Regnum.ru news agency Modest Kolerov’s interview where the latter states “ In my opinion, if the judicial process on Robert Kocharyan’s case on the fact of overthrowing the constitutional order, is justified, that charge will collapse. The acting president cannot overthrow himself. It’s nonsense.”
The political scientist speaks about Kocharyan as the bearer of the constitutional order, and of the impossibility of overthrowing himself. However, it has already been accentuated many times that Robert Kocharyan is not charged with overthrowing the constitutional order by overthrowing himself. The constitutional order is not a person but a whole set of certain norms stipulated in the Constitution. Overthrowing of constitutional order using violence, according to the SIS statement, is the hindering of the political neutrality of the Armed Forces and using it against peaceful protesters, as a result of which the norms prescribed in the Articles 1-5, and in the part one of the Article 6 of the Constitution have been violated.
