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The Yerevan Criminal Court of Appeals, under presiding judge Mnatsakan Harutyunyan, continues the hearings on the appeal of sex-President Robert Kocharyan against the ruling of a lower court on Thursday.

As the member of the defense team members Hayk Alumyan told reporters, Robert Kocharyan is attending the hearing. “Mr Kocharyan has not made any statement yet except the one he has filed no request for the judge to rescue himself from the case,” Alumyan said.

Asked why Robert Kocharyan decided to attend the the Court of Appeals hearing considering the fact that he was absent from the lower court hearing, Alumyan said. “We predicted that despite all relevant evidence, facts and arguments the court of the first instance was unable to issue a fair ruling on the case.”

To remind, on January 18, the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction approved the motion filed by the Special Investigative Service to extend the ex-president’s pre-trial arrest for two months and rejected his lawyers’ petition to release Kocharyan on bail.

The former president’s team of attorneys appealed this ruling to the higher court.

Kocharyan has been placed in custody since December 7, 2018, pending trial. He is charged with overthrowing Armenia’s constitutional order during the March 1-2, 2008 post-election events in Yerevan. The former president and his lawyers strongly deny the charges as ‘politically motivated’.