YEREVAN, AUGUST 9, ARMENPRESS. Head of the Special Investigation Service of Armenia Sasun Khachatryan assures that the SIS has no influence and cannot have any on judges, reports Armenpress.

At a meeting with reporters, commenting on the criticism according to which with his statements in one of his interviews over the 2008 March 1 case he intervenes in the criminal case, the SIS chief said: “You can make judgments whether I interfere or not. Court is independent, and the Special Investigation Service and its head have no involvement in the processes of appointing judges, dismissing them, as well as subjecting them to disciplinary accountability”.

As for the partial declassification of the highly confidential order N0038, which, according to the attorneys of 2nd President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, contains danger of breaking the context, Sasun Khachatryan said the right to declassify that document belongs to the defense ministry. “The defense ministry has decided to what extent that order can be declassified, therefore, I will urge the defending side not to speculate the accusations according to which we don’t want to publicize it completely, it’s not our desire”, he said.  

On August 3 during an interview to the Public TV’s Orakarg program, SIS Head Sasun Khachatryan partially declassified the highly confidential order N0038, stating that these are undeniable proofs that the 2nd President has involved the Armed Forces in the domestic political processes, which was not allowed, and contributed to breaching the constitutional order.

Robert Kocharyan has been charged on July 26 over the 2008 March 1 case, under the Article 300.1 part 1 of the Criminal Code for breaching the constitutional order of the Republic of Armenia. He is currently remanded into custody.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan