Members of civil initiative collect signatures for disqualifying the  judge who released Robert Kocharyan

ArmInfo. Members of the "Hello,  Rob" civil initiative protesting against the decision of the Court of  Appeals on the release of the second President Robert Kocharyan, are  currently collecting signatures near the building of the Supreme  Judicial Council for recusal of the judge who released the former  president.

According to a member of the initiative, lawyer Vahe Grigoryan, they  suspect the judge of the Court of Appeal Alexander Azaryan of bias.  In the years of Kocharyan's presidency, Azaryan worked in his office,  thus, according to activists, he could not be impartial and had to  announce his recusal. "The collection of signatures is organized with  the purpose of applying to the Prosecutor General's Office to  initiate an investigation against Alexander Azaryan and to terminate  his powers," Grigoryan said.  ’Ґ¬ ўаҐ¬Ґ­Ґ¬, ­Ґ¬­®ЈЁ¬ а ­ҐҐ ­ з «м­ЁЄ  гЇа ў«Ґ­Ёп Ї® а бб«Ґ¤®ў ­Ёо ®б®Ў® ў ¦­ле ¤Ґ« ѓҐ­Ґа «м­®© Їа®Єга вгал  Ђа¬Ґ­ЁЁ ‚  Ј­ Њга ¤п­ § пўЁ« ¦га­ «Ёбв ¬, зв® в®в д Єв, зв® бг¤мп,  а бб¬ ваЁў ойЁ©  ЇҐ««пжЁ®­­го ¦ «®Ўг нЄб-ЇаҐ§Ё¤Ґ­в  - Ђ«ҐЄб ­¤а  Ђ§ ап­, ў бў®Ґ ўаҐ¬п а Ў®в « ў  ЇЇ а вҐ ўв®а®Ј® ЇаҐ§Ё¤Ґ­в , ­Ґ  пў«пҐвбп ®б­®ў ­ЁҐ¬ ¤«п § пў«Ґ­Ёп ®Ў ®вў®¤Ґ бг¤мЁ.  In the meantime,  earlier the head of the department for the investigation of  especially important cases of the Prosecutor General's Office of  Armenia Vahagn Muradyan told journalists that the fact that the judge  who was considering the appeal of the former president - Alexander  Azaryan, once worked in the office of the second president, is not a  ground for his recusal.

To recall, yesterday after the Armenian Appeals Court granted the   petition of the lawyers of former President Robert Kocharyan and   canceled the decision of the court of first instance, taking into   account the inviolability of the former heads of state, the Special   Investigative Service of Armenia stated that the decision was   illegal, and the Criminal Court of Appeal exceeded its jurisdiction.   "We hope that the prosecutor's office will file a cassation appeal,"   the SIS said. 

Judge Alexander Azaryan gave quite negative assessment to the  statement of the investigative body.  According to him, it is not  permissible to make such statements unless the text of the court  decision is studied. "I think that by making such statements, some  officials have started a policy of flattering, and the matter  concerns not SIS alone," he said, adding that he sees an attempt to  exert pressure in such actions, and "a professional lawyer does not  have the right to make such statements" . As for his possible bias,  according to the judge, he is not constrained by any obligations and  has never even communicated with Kocharyan. In this context, it seems  suspicious to him that the prosecution announces the need for his  recusal only today - after the decision on the case has already been  taken.