SDHP Statement on Robert Kocharian’s Detention

The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party welcomes the process of restoring legality in Armenia, the process of equality under the law, which has been initiated by the newly formed government as a result of the Velvet Revolution. The foundation of the revolution was love and solidarity, the exclusion of hatred, which allowed us to liberate Armenia without any single drop of blood.

We are convinced that the proceedings initiated against Robert Kocharian, the second President of the Republic of Armenia, will be based on the letter of the law.

Political assessments should also be given to the October 27 bloody slaughter, the killings of men who were the founders of the state, and the unprovoked political killings, the persecution of dissidents, the fraudulent elections, the linkage of the criminal elements and the oligarchy with the government. It is important to examine the circumstances under which the most important strategic objects of the Republic of Armenia were handed over to foreign states, the waste of multi million dollar aid programs from diaspora, and so on.

For the recovery of the political and public atmosphere of the country, the elimination of the immunity from punishment and the inevitability of taking responsibility for the crimes committed are extremely important.

The combination of political assessment and legal facts will provide an opportunity to ensure the deterrence for all future administrations and the exclusion of the formation of an atmosphere of impunity.

At the same time, we consider it extremely troubling the distorted statements spread by some political forces, namely the former coalition partners the Republican Party of Armenia and the ARF Dashnaktsutyun about political persecutions of Robert Kocharian.

The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party has always been in opposition of the former regime. On March 1, standing beside the pan-national movement, it felt the tools of the political persecution of Kocharian repression on its skin.

As a worldwide member of the Hunchakian family, we express our unconditional support to the process of new Armenia becoming a state based on legality and equality for all.

Social Democrat Hunchakian Party Executive Committee of Armenia