YEREVAN. June 25 (Interfax) - Armenia's Appeal Court has ordered the arrest of former President Robert Kocharyan on counts of overthrowing the constitutional system, an Interfax correspondent reported from the courtroom on Tuesday.
Judge Armen Danielyan upheld the Prosecutor General's appeal against the ruling of a Yerevan general-jurisdiction court which changed Kocharyan's restrictive measure, terminated the proceeding, and directed the case to the Constitutional Court.
According to the judge, the ruling may be appealed within 15 days.
Neither Kocharyan nor his lawyers attended the hearing.
"Considering that the Court of Criminal Appeal has not allowed defenders of the second Armenian president to present their stance, has flagrantly trampled upon the competitive trial process, and has recessed to the chambers for entering a judgment, neither [former] President Kocharyan, nor members of his defense will attend today's hearing," a representative of the Kocharyan defense team told the press.
A Yerevan general-jurisdiction court decided on May 18 to release Kocharyan from custody. Criminal proceedings against the former president and other former high-ranking officials were dropped, and the case was referred to the Constitutional Court on May 20.