YEREVAN. Jan 25 (Interfax) - The lawyers of former Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) secretary-general Yury Khachaturov intend to appeal his arrest to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
"The cassation court [in Armenia] refused to initiate proceedings regarding the court of first instance's ruling on Khachaturov's arrest. The court refused to take into consideration that an arrest can be unjustified if its connection to the charges brought has not been confirmed and also disregarded the issue of diplomatic immunity," lawyer Mihran Poghosyan told Armenian journalists.
It is said in the appeal that a recording is circulating of a conversation between the director of the National Security Service and the head of the Armenian Special Investigative Service in which they discuss Khachaturov's arrest and say that "he must be arrested first, then start talking," Poghosyan said.
"Therefore, Khachaturov's arrest is far removed from justice. Local judicial instances have already been exhausted. We will appeal to the ECHR," he said.
On July 28, 2018, a court of first instance in Yerevan ruled to arrest Khachaturov, who is charged with overthrowing the constitutional order in 2008, and subsequently agreed to release him on bail.
Earlier, two audio recordings of a telephone conversation between the heads of the National Security Service and the Special Investigative Service, as well as the Armenian prime minister, were posted on YouTube.
The parties discuss Khachaturov's detention, Russia's response, and the arrest of former Armenian president Robert Kocharyan.
In late July 2018, Kocharyan, Khachaturov, and former defense minister Mikael Harutyunyan were charged with overthrowing the constitutional system on March 1, 2008, when ten people were killed and more than 250 injured in clashes between the police and protestors following a disputed presidential election.