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Post-Soviet security bloc’s former chief is in Armenia, his lawyer says

Former Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Yuri Khachaturov has been in Armenia since November 4 after his dismissal

YEREVAN, November 8. /TASS/. Former Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a post-Soviet security bloc, Yuri Khachaturov has been in Armenia since November 4 after his dismissal, lawyer Migran Pogosyan told TASS.

"On November 2, when the news broke that Khachaturov was removed from office as the CSTO chief, at first he headed to Georgia to the graves of his parents and then on November 4 he returned to Armenia and he is now here," Pogosyan said.

Earlier, Armenia’s Prosecutor-General’s Office announced that the dismissal was not a ground for changing the pre-trial restriction against Khachaturov.

On November 2, the CSTO Collective Security Council announced a decision to relieve Khachaturov from office as the organization’s Secretary General. The dismissal had been initiated by Armenia. A spokesman for the Armenian prime minister, Arman Yegoryan, said the issue on appointing the new CSTO chief would be discussed at the summit in Astana on Thursday.

On July 26, Armenia’s Special Investigative Service accused CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov of overthrowing the constitutional order in 2008 and requested a court to arrest him. Khachaturov, who was the commander of the Armenian Armed Forces’ Yerevan Garrison back in 2008, pleaded not guilty. Two days later, the Yerevan City Court of General Jurisdiction released him on his own recognizance and a bail of about $10,000.