YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — The judge presiding over the trial of Robert Kocharyan has allowed the former Armenian president to visit Moscow for the second time in less than two months, it emerged on Tuesday, February 2.
A trial prosecutor, Gevorg Baghdasaryan, revealed the permission and demanded an explanation from the judge, Anna Danibekyan, during the latest court hearing on coup charges leveled against Kocharyan and three other former officials.
“We don’t know the grounds on which Robert Kocharyan is allowed to leave Armenia,” complained Baghdasaryan. He said Danibekyan should have consulted with the prosecution before making the decision communicated to the Armenian police.
“If you think that the court’s decision must be appealed you are not deprived of that possibility,” countered the judge.
Kocharyan was allowed to be absent from the country from February 3-8. His spokesman Victor Soghomonian told the Hraparak newspaper that Kocharyan was to fly to Moscow to take part in a meeting of the board of directors of a major Russian corporation, AFK Sistema.
Kocharyan has been a board member since 2009. He reportedly attended a board meeting during his previous trip to the Russian capital in mid-December.
