Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan was charged on Thursday; he was summoned to the Special Investigation Service (SIS) as a witness. But they said, from the very first moment, that they had decided to bring charges against him and to interrogate him as an accused.

Ruben Sahakyan, an attorney of Kocharyan, stated the abovementioned at a press conference on Saturday.

“We are not speaking about the case of Robert Kocharyan, but about a case which is a complete case—starting from the events on March 1[, 2008, in capital city Yerevan] to this day,” he said, in particular.

The attorney added that, unexpectedly, on the same evening at 9:35pm, he was notified that the court hearing to consider whether to remand Armenia’s second President in custody was scheduled for the same day at 10pm.

“At [Friday] 1:30am, the investigative group brought a decision to declare a search for Robert Kocharyan,” Sahakyan noted, “that is, they already decided to arrest [him].”

The attorney said the fact that the court operated in such a hasty manner was a signal that they were going to arrest the second President, and the motion for posting bail for him would not be granted.

“It was clear that this is a directive that needs to be carried out,” the attorney said. “Who is the directive from? Naturally, I can’t say. I can assume, [but] voice [it]—no. I believe the culprits are at the Prosecutor General’s Office, [and] the SIS.”