YEREVAN - An Armenian court has granted prosecutors an arrest warrant for former president Robert Kocharyan on charges of "overthrowing constitutional order" by rigging presidential polls over a decade ago in favour of his hand-picked ally. YEREVAN, Armenia — Robert Kocharian, Armenia’s former president, has been placed in custody for two months while facing charges in connection with deadly clashes between police and demonstrators a decade ago. Speaking to Yerkir Media TV, Kocharyan denied the charges, calling them “entirely fictitious, fabricated, and politically motivated.”

“This is an apparent political persecution, a vendetta under the cover of the velvet revolution, under the motto of love and solidarity,” Kocharyan said. Kocharyan served as Armenia's second president from 1998 to 2008 and investigators have charged him with an attempt to overthrow the constitutional order during post-election events in March 2008, when his ally Serzh Sarksyan was elected the next president. Kocharian’s ally, Serzh Sarkisian, was declared the winner, angering the opposition and setting off 10 days of nonstop protests that led to a crackdown on March 1 in which 10 people, including two police officers, were killed. Nikol Pashinyan, an opposition activist at the time who was imprisoned in June 2009 on charges of fomenting unrest during post-election protests, was elected prime minister by parliament on May 8 this year.
Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan is arrested and taken into police custody on charges of being involved in the crackdown on protests in 2008 that resulted in ten deaths following a disputed presidential election.