Kocharian, who ruled Armenia from 1998-2008, was first arrested in July 2018 shortly after the “velvet revolution” that brought Nikol Pashinian to power. He initially faced only charges stemming from a 2008 post-election crackdown on opposition protesters in Yerevan.
The ex-president was subsequently also charged with receiving a $3 million bribe from an Armenian businesswoman. He, his former chief of staff Armen Gevorgian and two retired army generals, went on trial in May 2019. They all rejected the accusations as politically motivated. Kocharian claimed that they are part of a “political vendetta” waged by Pashinian.
The coup charges against the defendants were dropped after Armenia’s Constitutional Court declared them unconstitutional in 2021. Kocharian and Gevorgian continued to stand trial for the alleged bribery.
Anna Danibekian, the judge presiding over the trial, closed the case without acquitting or convicting Kocharian. She argued that Kocharian has invoked the statute of limitations that expired in May this year.
Kocharian refused to make such a plea at the time, saying that he will keep fighting for his formal acquittal. One of his lawyers, Mihran Poghosian, said he has changed his mind because he now needs to go abroad for an urgent medical examination. In recent weeks, Danibekian has repeatedly declined to allow Kocharian to leave Armenia, Poghosian told reporters.
Kocharian was last released from custody on bail in June 2020. The end of his trial means that the bail money worth 2 billion drams ($5 million) will be returned to his daughter Gayane. The presiding judge also unfroze the 69-year-old ex-president’s assets.
Kocharian, who now leads Armenia’s largest opposition alliance, would not go to jail even if he was found guilty.