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News.am (29 June 2021)

The court hearing on the criminal case against Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan and former deputy prime minister Armen Gevorgyan has taken a recess Tuesday at the capital Yerevan court of general jurisdiction.

Before that, presiding Judge Anna Danibekyan recalled that there is a circumstance that hinders the continuation of the examination of the case. It is about the status of Kocharyan and Gevorgyan, about their parliamentary immunity in terms of criminal prosecution as MP candidates, and about their possible future status as MPs. The judge stated that the court does not have exact information yet in this regard.

To note, both defendants are on the list of MPs to be from the "Armenia" bloc, and Kocharyan heads this list. Thus, the system of parliamentary immunity applies to them.

The prosecution asked why the court believes that this circumstance hinders the administration of justice. The court responded that if there is such status, steps should be taken to overcome it, but the court does not have such information yet.

Defense attorney Aram Vardevanyan asked the court to announce a half-hour break in order for the defense to submit the documents of parliamentary immunity for the defendants.

The prosecution argued that the criminal prosecution had started before the snap parliamentary elections on June 20, and therefore it does not apply to this situation.

The court announced a half-hour break in order for the defense to submit the documents of parliamentary immunity.

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