YEREVAN, AUGUST 2, ARMENPRESS. Head of the Special Investigation Service Sasun Khachatryan commented on why 2nd President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan has been invited for questioning over the 2008 March 1 case as a witness, but then he was questioned in the status of defendant, reports Armenpress.

The SIS head told reporters that this decision was linked with having new evidences in case of which it would be a violation of the rights of the person invited for questioning it he would be questioned as a witness. “The criminal proceedings are a dynamic process, in order words, getting evidence is taking place constantly, every day, every hour, even every second. The status of the person is being assessed based on the combination of these evidences”, he said.

Asked why Kocharyan was not notified before going to questioning, the SIS chief said: “There is no such procedure, there is no violation here. Immediately when an investigation operation was to be carried out, he was notified that he has the status of defendant, otherwise, if he was questioned as a witness, it would be a violation”.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan