Robert Kocharian: The stage of tactical expectation has passed,  Armenian society is entering a phase of active operations

ArmInfo.The criminal case  on the events of March 1, 2008 from the first day was outside the  legal field. This was stated in an interview to the Hraparak  newspaper by the second President of the Republic of Armenia Robert  Kocharian, who was charged with attempting to overthrow the  constitutional order at that time.

Meanwhile, according to Robert Kocharian, the prosecution itself is  absurd and has nothing to do with both law and the events of March 1,  2008. "Add to this continuous violations of procedural rules, gross,  undisguised pressure on the courts. Leaking a record of a shameful  telephone conversation about my arrest, blocking the courts on the  prime minister's call, criminal prosecution of Judge David Grigoryan,  ignoring the decision of the Constitutional Court, the attack on the  Constitutional Court and its subsequent the chairman, the absurd  arrests of his godchildren and the blackmail of family members are  just an incomplete list of obvious crimes by the authorities aimed at  suppressing the entire justice system. We'll have to answer in the  near future. A fabricated case cannot have a legal future. However,  given the lawlessness, under the current authorities, the final  outcome of the criminal case can be expected with the intervention of  the ECHR, "said the ex-president.

He also emphasized that according to the latest Gallup polls, the  population of Armenia is the most angry among 140 countries studied.  "Even ahead of Iraq destroyed by the war. This is a direct merit of  the authorities cultivating hatred and anger as an instrument of  politics. In an embittered state, people are subject to manipulation  and are ready to thwart their discontent with life on anyone, you  just need to assign anti-heroes. Formula <spread out on asphalt and  spread on the wall> talks about the intellectual wretchedness of its  authors and the flawed psyche of jubilant "Pogos". This is a  by-product of any "revolutionary" propaganda and is well studied by  social psychology. It is foolish in irrational behavior dei look for  logical cause-and-effect relations. In the year 98, a significant  part of the population demanded that Ter-Petrosyan and the whole top  of the ANM be planted. I then decided that we should build a future  and not fight the past. Any president has political opponents who are  capable of to set up their supporters for destructive emotions.  However, such emotions ultimately turn against those who initiate  them. A society where people rejoice in arrests cannot be  constructive. I am ready for a healthy criticism of my presidency.  The irony is that the charges, as a rule, have nothing to do with  reality. What I can and should be criticized for is not mentioned at  all.

We patiently explain to people the essence of what is happening.  According to our estimates, the attitude of people is changing  literally every day. The period of a sober rethinking and  reassessment of what is happening has come, and the mediocrity of the  authorities is the best stimulator of this process, "Robert Kocharian  believes.

He also noted that the mass protests in April 2018 that led to the  change of power were a "political tsunami", the wave of which washed  away the country's usual political landscape. Such turbulent  processes have great inertia, and society needed time to return to a  rational state. The euphoria, and with it the wait-and-see attitude  of politicians, has passed, and now there is an active formation of a  new contour of the future political field. "The potential here is  huge, since the intellectual resource of society is mainly  concentrated outside the parliament, and political discourse is also  being conducted there. The discussion at Vernatun showed a wide  consensus on the inability of the authorities to govern the country  and the need to form an effective opposition. A year ago, such a  discussion would have been impossible.  So, the stage of numbness and  tactical expectation is over, the society enters the stage of active  actions.The most active and energetic will take leading roles in the  new political "There is a feeling that the parliamentary opposition  has a similar assessment of the general situation, which was  reflected in its activation," said the ex-president.

Answering a question about the weak reaction of Western structures to  the events in Armenia, Robert Kocharian pointed out that European  organizations traditionally slow and accelerated only in cases of  torture and death threats due to health reasons. "In addition, they  need time to understand that what happened in Armenia was a bloodless  coup and does not have a democratic essence. I believe that we will  soon hear Europeans as well, as the actions of the authorities cross  all permissible boundaries. Russia has shown its attitude to what is  happening many times and quite The judiciary is under gross pressure  from the executive branch, judges first of all assess the degree of  their vulnerability, and only make decisions based on this. This is  not justice, but judges' assessment of personal lawsuits stained with  corruption are the most obedient to the regime. Of course, there are  judges who have retained dignity and professional honor, are ready to  fight for their independence. Positive decisions on my issue were  made by just such judges, despite the prosecutor's lawlessness, "said  the ex-president.

He added that the previous construction of the human rights community  of Armenia turned out to be fake and completely collapsed. "In fact,  it was created and financed to serve opposition forces of a certain  orientation. Only a couple of human rights defenders remained loyal  to vocation. Today, a new community is formed of people who are  sincerely devoted to human rights activities, able to rise above  their political passions. By the way, their intellectual and moral  level is not comparable with level of primitive and lazy  grant-eaters, "Robert Kocharian emphasized.

He also sharply criticized the foreign policy of the country's  authorities. "Pashinyan's slogan that a solution should satisfy all  parties to the conflict is an empty, nonsense phrase, a banal formula  of an intermediary. This is direct evidence of Armenia's lack of an  action plan. The last round of negotiations in Bratislava with the  events accompanying it showed the complete bankruptcy of the  negotiation strategy of our authorities, if one exists at all.  Artsakh must take the initiative into its own hands and clearly state  its position on the main elements of the settlement. This is the only  way to avoid irreparable consequences At the same time, Artsakh is  obliged to adhere to the Declaration of Independence and its  Constitution, without fear of disagreements with the Armenian  authorities.The absence of the stated successor from the authorities  led to excessive fragmentation of the political field.There have  never been such a number of presidential candidates representing  different segments of the Karabakh elite. not a sign of democracy,  but a manifestation of disunity, which is a challenge to the security  of Karabakh.  The border of democracy in Artsakh should be determined  by its security, and not vice versa. Involving outside-funded  non-governmental organizations in elections raises questions. Such  organizations and pacifist religious sects in Artsakh should not  exist at all. What is happening is much more dangerous than military  incidents on the contact line, as the values that we won are eroded.  I would like to make a mistake, but it seems to me that this is a  scenario imposed on Karabakh and it is being implemented with the  participation of the Armenian authorities. It is unacceptable in  Karabakh to have a sneak president playing along with someone's  whims, including the prime minister of Armenia. Such qualities are  inherent in wretched and weak personalities, and such "leadership"  can have disastrous consequences for Artsakh. They need war-hardened  brave leaders. I hope the choice of the Karabakh people will be just  that, "the second president of Armenia emphasized.

According to his forecasts, power, the legitimacy of which is tied to  one person, cannot be stable, regardless of the number of deputy  mandates. "The inability to rule the country, the lack of systematic  work has launched an active delegitimization of the authorities. The  prime minister has practically no fanatical supporters. The lack of a  clear focus on economic and social policies does not form support for  social groups of the beneficiaries of this policy. There is a  conflict of two accelerating multidirectional processes. On the one  hand, society's adequacy is restored after intoxicating euphoria. On  the other hand, the sovereign prime minister who imagines himself  loses his adequacy Jesus Christ. This multiplies the rate of decline  in its popularity, and allows you to be sure that it will end in  early elections. Moreover, the likelihood that this will happen next  year is very high and depends on the decisiveness of the opposition  and its ability to combine efforts, "Robert Kocharian concluded .