In a joint letter, Bako Sahakyan and Arkady Ghukasyan (the former and the current president of the non-recognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) called on Armenian Attorney General Artur Davtyan to revise the detention order against former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, so he could attend the upcoming events in Nagorno-Karabakh (on May 9, the anniversary of the occupation of the city of Shusha will be celebrated in Nagorno-Karabakh). They expressed their readiness to provide "the necessary and reasonable guarantees" to facilitate his release from custody until the end of the prosecution, reports Tert.am. The release of Kocharyan would be a “message of solidarity and unity” for the Armenian society and the entire world, reads the letter.

The Prosecutor General of Armenia responded with reluctance to the appeal of the Nagorno-Karabakh representatives. “As long as the criminal case is subject of the court, the Attorney General’s office is not the supervising body of the case, thus the request is not within the limits of the authorities of the Attorney General’s office”, reads the statement.

The head of the Armenian government, Nikol Pashinyan, warned the de facto authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh of interfering in the internal affairs of Armenia.

The public appeal of Sahakyan and Ghukasyan sparked a debate on how far this step was politically motivated. Ruben Rubinyan, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Armenian parliament, denies that the request could have political implications. “I think it is not me who should give any assessment on this. The mentioned people have turned to Attorney general Artur Davtyan and therefore he is the one to respond.  It is not a matter of politics at all but a legal issue”, Rubinyan said. The chief of the “My step” Faction Lilit Makunts gave an even shorter statement on this matter. She basically declined to comment on the issue relating to Nagorno-Karabakh, reports Aysor.am.

Robert Kocharyan was president of Armenia from 1998 to 2008, having previously served as president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1994 to 1997. The prosecution of the second president began after the “Velvet Revolution” in Armenia. He is currently under investigation for the “overthrow of the constitutional order” in the context of the 2008 presidential election. In March 2008, when Kocharyan was the head of state, he suppressed mass protests against electoral fraud. Ten people were killed and hundreds more injured in clashes on the streets of Yerevan. Today's prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, was arrested there as one of the organizers of the protests and spent two years in prison as a consequence.

On 26 July 2018, the Special Investigation Service (SIS) accused Kocharyan of “overthrowing the constitutional order” in the last weeks of his term in 2008. He was arrested on July 27 2018, which triggered a negative reaction from Moscow. On 13 August 2018, the detention order against him was declared unlawful because he enjoyed presidential immunity. The Special Investigation Service filed a complaint against this decision and on 7 December 2018, Kocharyan was arrested again following a new ruling of the Court of Appeal. On 7 February 2019, the court refused to release him from custody. On 3 May 2019, Kocharyan’s assets were confiscated by the government excluding his pension.

Robert Kocharyan is from Nagorno-Karabakh. He and his followers strongly criticize the new government's actions and call it a “political persecution”. Within the government, however, the investigation is seen as a just and comprehensive procedure, which would not have been possible during the era of Kocharyan and his successor Serzh Sargsyan. On 8 May 2019, Kocharyan announced the establishment of a strong opposition force that would challenge the current Armenian government.