Former prosecutor general ready to return to Armenia and publicly answer all the questions regarding March 1 case
03.02.2020,
19:38
Armenia's former prosecutor general Gevorg Kostanyan said he was ready to return to Armenia from Russia and publicly answer all the questions regarding the March 1 criminal case.
YEREVAN, February 3. /ARKA/. Armenia's former prosecutor general Gevorg Kostanyan said he was ready to return to Armenia from Russia and publicly answer all the questions regarding the March 1 criminal case.
In Armenia Kostanyan is charged with complicity in official forgery, concealment of a crime, falsification of evidence in a civil case.
In 2019 November, Armenia's law-enforcement authorities gave him 48 hours to appear before the Special Investigative Service (SIS) . Kostanyan, who was in Russia, ignored the request and was put by the SIS on its most-wanted list.
“Although the charges brought against me are devoid of any legal, logical and substantive basis, I express my readiness to return to Armenia and answer all the questions of the investigation body. I propose that a live public discussion be organized with the Prime Minister of Armenia or with his direct participation, also with the participation of the head of the Special Investigation Service and the Prosecutor General, legal scholars and international experts," Kostanyan said in a statement.
According to him, taking into account the scale of the March 1 case, and because of the unilateral presentation of the issue by the Armenian authorities on various international platforms, he insists that representatives of the Council of Europe and the European Union, as well as foreign ambassadors to Armenia, be invited and participate in the discussion.
“If during that discussion the law enforcement authorities succeed in presenting at least one evidence justifying the charges against me, I’m ready to bear the full criminal responsibility. After clarifying the date, time, place and format I promise to come back to Armenia one day before the discussion," Kostanyan said.
The March 1 case dates back to late February and early March 2008 following the disputed presidential election, when then prime minister Serzh Sargsyan was declared the winner, angering the opposition, led by the first Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan who set off 10 days of nonstop protests that led to a crackdown on March 1, in which 10 people were killed and more than 200 injured.
The SIS claims that Kostanyan and another aide to the ex-president Serzh Sargsyan ordered senior police officers to destroy evidence of the “overthrow of the constitutional order” on March 1, 2008 by Sargsyan's predecessor Robert Kocharyan. -0-
In Armenia Kostanyan is charged with complicity in official forgery, concealment of a crime, falsification of evidence in a civil case.
In 2019 November, Armenia's law-enforcement authorities gave him 48 hours to appear before the Special Investigative Service (SIS) . Kostanyan, who was in Russia, ignored the request and was put by the SIS on its most-wanted list.
“Although the charges brought against me are devoid of any legal, logical and substantive basis, I express my readiness to return to Armenia and answer all the questions of the investigation body. I propose that a live public discussion be organized with the Prime Minister of Armenia or with his direct participation, also with the participation of the head of the Special Investigation Service and the Prosecutor General, legal scholars and international experts," Kostanyan said in a statement.
According to him, taking into account the scale of the March 1 case, and because of the unilateral presentation of the issue by the Armenian authorities on various international platforms, he insists that representatives of the Council of Europe and the European Union, as well as foreign ambassadors to Armenia, be invited and participate in the discussion.
“If during that discussion the law enforcement authorities succeed in presenting at least one evidence justifying the charges against me, I’m ready to bear the full criminal responsibility. After clarifying the date, time, place and format I promise to come back to Armenia one day before the discussion," Kostanyan said.
The March 1 case dates back to late February and early March 2008 following the disputed presidential election, when then prime minister Serzh Sargsyan was declared the winner, angering the opposition, led by the first Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan who set off 10 days of nonstop protests that led to a crackdown on March 1, in which 10 people were killed and more than 200 injured.
The SIS claims that Kostanyan and another aide to the ex-president Serzh Sargsyan ordered senior police officers to destroy evidence of the “overthrow of the constitutional order” on March 1, 2008 by Sargsyan's predecessor Robert Kocharyan. -0-
