Kocharyan Stopped at Airport, Then Hit With 20-Year-Old Cases

Robert Kocharyan, former president and a major opposition leader, announced a routine three-day international trip, only to be stopped by border authorities at Zvartnots Airport with no explanation or public justification. The National Security Service prevented his departure, but officers provided no court order, no legal document, and no official reason. Hours later, video of the incident was leaked to pro-government media outlets, framing Kocharyan as a man trying to flee the country. The video originated from NSS cameras in a special security zone, and Pashinyan acknowledged the leak with striking indifference, saying the NSS could release whatever it wanted regardless of privacy or legal concerns. Days after the airport incident, the government announced three criminal cases against Kocharyan. All three relate to acts he performed while serving as president between 1998 and 2008, more than 20 years ago. One case involves a tennis court facility transferred to a private company, a decision so old it falls well outside Armenia’s statute of limitations. Yet Armenian law permits indefinite pre-trial detention even if the statute has expired and a conviction is legally impossible. The Constitutional Court has already ruled that presidents have immunity for official acts, yet these charges proceed. The cumulative effect is not prosecution but harassment: Kocharyan faces years of court proceedings, legal costs, and detention risk for crimes that cannot legally result in conviction. This exemplifies the ruling party’s multi-front legal assault on opposition leaders-combining travel restrictions, leaked security footage, media propaganda, and legally dubious charges designed to incapacitate rivals through legal attrition rather than legitimate justice.