Victor Soghomonyan, Head of the Office of the Second President of the Republic of Armenia, issued a statement, which reads:

“As you know, yesterday, on 18 June, the RA Criminal Court of Appeals made a decision, by which the arrest of the second President of the RA Robert Kocharyan was replaced by bail as a precautionary measure. Welcoming the court’s decision to lift the illegal detention which lasted for about 500 days, at the same time I cannot help but be puzzled by the unprecedented amount of bail of 2 billion drams. This is an unprecedented amount of money that has never been used as bail in Armenia. The imposition of such a bail may call into question the possibility of the release of any person and force them to refuse to pay the bail, considering it a practically impossible decision made by the court. Especially since a short time to pay the amount, only two days was stipulated by the law. The obvious nature of this was the reason that immediately after the verdict was announced, we received numerous calls without exaggeration from hundreds of individuals who expressed their willingness to support the payment of bail, each to the best of his ability. I would also like to inform that several large businessmen and philanthropists, whose names we will publish in the near future, have expressed their readiness to participate in the payment of the pledge. On behalf of President Kocharyan, his family and the resigned President’s Office, I would like to thank all those who support us, regardless of the opportunity and political setbacks.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of President Kocharian’s defense team, all the statesmen who have made a significant contribution to the history of our people, who were ready to personally guarantee Robert Kocharyan’s release; to all our comrades-in-arms and supporters, to President Kocharyan’s Freedom Committee, to all those who have raised their voices in protest against the outrageous injustice, by their speech, by participating in a rally in front of the court or by signing a document demanding the freedom of the President.

 I am convinced that this is only the first step towards the restoration of justice.”