Newspaper: Armenia ex-President Kocharyan trial will be closed hearing

YEREVAN. – The relatives of those who died during the events that occurred in March 2008 in Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan were told that the court case of second President Robert Kocharyan will be a closed hearing, and therefore they will not be able to attend it, Zhamanak (Time) newspaper reported.

“The reason is that facts containing state secrets, [and] which are not subject to making public, will be publicized during the court hearing,” Zhamanak wrote.

Second President Robert Kocharyan—along with several other former officials—has been charged within the framework of the criminal case into the tragic events that transpired in Yerevan, in March 2008—and under Article 300.1 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code; that is, breaching Armenia’s constitutional order, in conspiracy with others. Subsequently, he was charged also with taking a particularly large bribe.

On March 1 and 2, 2008 the then authorities of Armenia used force against the opposition members who were rallying in downtown Yerevan, and against the results of the presidential election on February 19, 2008. Eight demonstrators as well as two servicemen of the internal troops were killed in the clashes. But no one had been brought to account for these deaths, to this day.