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Armenia’s third President Serzh Sargsyan has arrived at the Yerevan First Instance Court of Avan and Nor Nork district which is set to start the first hearing in the ex-president’s trial.

He was greeted with applause by his supporters outside the court building.

Serzh Sargsyan thanked all his supporters who have gathered in front of the court despite the bad weather, stressing they in fact have come to defend justice in Armenia.

“Taking into account the adverse weather conditions and the fact that, hopefully, there are still judges in Armenia for whom justice is above everything else, just like for me and most of the Armenian people the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh is above everything else, please go home and engage in your daily work, never forgetting about the security of the Republic of Armenia,” he said.

“I have repeatedly stated from the highest tribunes of the world, and now I repeat myself that Nagorno-Karabakh will never be part of Azerbaijan. This has been the overriding purpose of my life, which will accompany me to the end and everywhere. Thank you very much. See you,” he added.

On 4 December the Special Investigative Service charged the ex-president with organizing an alleged embezzlement of government funds along with a group of other officials through misuse of official position.

The indictment said that Sargsyan used his official position in January and February 2013, when he was president, to steer a government fuel contract to a particular company that cost the state an additional 489 million drams (roughly $1 million) in subsidies.

A signature bond has been imposed on Serzh Sargsyan as a measure of restraint.

The Sargsyan-led Republican Party of Armenia denounced the charges as “fabricated”, stressing the Armenian authorities seek to divert the people’s attention from “escalating daily challenges facing the country.”