Tatevik Shagunyan. The Republican Party of Armenia expresses its deep concern over the charges against the second President Robert Kocharyan and the proposal to use arrest against him.

As stated in the statement of the RPA Executive Body, the accusation leaves the impression of political persecution and in the legal plan is absurd. "We consider the current situation a threat to the democratic development of Armenia and a blow to the process of building a law-based state." A criminal case initiated for political reasons jeopardizes the constitutional order, "the statement said.

The party considers a "trumped-up" process with respect to the former Supreme Commander-in-Chief who has a principled position on the Artsakh issue and made an invaluable contribution to the Artsakh liberation struggle, as a method of pressure on opponents who can oppose possible developments around the Karabakh settlement, different from the traditional approaches of the Armenian side, promoted over the years.

Robert Kocharyan, who is in search of former Defense Minister Mikael Harutyunyan and CSTO Secretary General Yury Khachaturov, who in 2008 occupied the post of the head of the Yerevan garrison, are held as accused on March 1, 2008.