Page 38 - bne_March2019_20190306 magazine

38 I Eurasia bne March 2019
Robert Kocharyan seen with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in 2000.
Bribe-taking charge ‘filed against ex-Armenian president Kocharyan’
bne IntelliNews
Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan – already charged with violating Armenia’s constitutional system for actions against demonstra- tors more than a decade ago – is facing
a charge arising from allegations that businesswoman Silva Hambartsumian was forced to pay a bribe to an Arme- nian minister, Kocharyan's lawyer Aram Orbelian was reported as saying by RFE/ RL’s Armenian Service on February 12. Hambartsumian told the news outlet last October that she had to pay a $14mn bribe in 2008 to then-environment minister Aram Harutyunian. In January, a court in Yerevan ordered Harutyunian's arrest, but his current whereabouts is unknown.
The prosecution of Kocharyan may have the potential to hurt relations between the post-revolution government in Armenia headed by Nikol Pashinian and the small country’s strategic ally
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Russia. Russia is concerned at how the Pashinian administration is going after figures of the old establishment.
Last August the Kremlin notably reported a phone conversation between Putin and Kocharyan during which the Russian
government's deadly use of force in the “Marti mek” (March 1) events against opposition protesters during the final weeks of his 1998-2008 rule.
Pashinian was elected on an anti- corruption and anti-cronyism platform
“Hambartsumian told the news outlet last October that she had to pay”
leader congratulated the former Armenian president on his birthday. This move, rare in state diplomacy, led to some analysts speculating that Moscow was underlining its support for Kocharyan. He had lately said that he would return to politics.
“Marti mek” charges
Kocharyan was initially arrested in July last year on charges stemming from his
after successfully leading Armenia’s velvet revolution in spring 2018.
Kocharyan, 64, has been accused of ille- gally ordering Armenian Army soldiers to use force against opposition support- ers who were protesting against alleged fraud in the disputed February 2008 presidential election. Eight protesters and two policemen were killed when