During today’s court session, the second president of Armenia, Robert Kocharian, explained the logic of the decisions he made in March 2008.
“If I had not introduced a state of emergency on March 1, today I would have been tried for inaction,” Kocharyan said. He called the proceeding a “theatre of the absurd”, stressing that all his steps were fully in line with the Constitution in force at that moment and were aimed exclusively at preserving statehood and preventing chaos.
“Until now, neither the investigative body nor the prosecutor’s office have been able to clearly formulate what specifically I exceeded my powers,” the ex-president said. Kocharyan paid special attention to the decision to declare a state of emergency on the evening of March 1.
According to him, at that time the situation was completely out of control. “When I signed the decree, about forty cars were already burning, several dozen servicemen were injured by shrapnel, one captain was in a serious condition. And now, 15 years later, the investigator declares that it was not enough,” said Kocharyan.
He reminded that very young boys, 18-19-year-old conscripts, served in the police forces at that time. “Today, years later, one can almost judge whether it was necessary and whether I did the right thing. But at that moment it was my constitutional right and direct duty. Let me repeat once more. if I didn’t make that decision then, I would be tried today for criminal negligence,” Robert Kocharyan concluded.
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