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Eurasia
July 27, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 21
Strait of Hormuz in response to Trump’s move against its oil sales. Some one-fifth of the world’s oil is shipped through the passage from the Per- sian Gulf to the open sea. Analysts have warned the oil price could skyrocket to $250 a barrel if Iran follows through on its threat to close the strait.
Further assailing and ridiculing the Trump admin-
Former Armenian president Kocharyan charged over March 2008 events
bne IntelliNews
Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan was charged on July 26 in connection with the events of March 1, 2008, when security forces vio- lently dispersed protesters in Yerevan.
Ten people were killed in the Armenian capital in clashes between protesters gathered in Freedom Square and the police and the military. The pro- tests were sparked by the election victory of Serzh Sargsyan, Kocharyan’s preferred successor, in the February presidential election, which his oppo- nents and supporters of rival candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan said was rigged.
After the so-called ‘people’s revolution’ ousted Sargsyan’s Republican Party from power in
May this year, the country’s new prime minister, protest leader Nikol Pashninian, instructed the Special Investigative Service (SIS) to investigate the use of lethal force during the events of spring 2008.
"On July 26, 2018, [Republic of Armenia for- mer] president Robert Kocharyan was charged with a criminal offence on the basis of sufficient evidence obtained during the preliminary inves- tigation in the criminal case in the RA Special
istration, Suleimani outlined how Iranians are in- credulous that it is aligning itself with the extreme Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MeK) Iranian opposition group, commonly thought of as a cult-like organisation by analysts. MeK lost out when the spoils were shared after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, went on to take Iraq’s side in the Iran-Iraq war, went into exile in Albania and has no apparent support of any signifi- cance inside Iran. “America had some grandeur in the past, but today, you have gathered these hypo- crites who are Iran’s trash,” Suleimani said.
Kocharyan has claimed the move against him is a "vendetta". Armenian PM Pashinian, who helped organised the demonstrations a decade ago, says he has questions to answer.
Investigative Service on the events that took place in Yerevan from 1 March 2008 to 2 March 2008," said a SIS statement.
The former president was charged with over- throwing the constitutional order in Armenia with the prior agreement of other persons. "On the same day, a motion was filed with the Yerevan City Court of First Instance for choosing a detention of Robert Kocharyan as a precautionary measure," the statement added.
Kocharian was summoned to the SIS headquarters on July 26. RFE/RL reported that he believed he was summoned as a witness, and refused to answer questions after being informed he was a suspect.
"These charges are fiction, fabricated, unjustified and have a political implication," he told Arme- nia’s Yerkir Media TV after the questioning, Reu- ters reported.
Yury Khachaturov, the secretary general of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organisa- tion (CSTO), also attended the SIS in Armenia for questioning over the events, Arka reported.