ArmInfo. The Armenian Parliament rejected the draft statement of the "Elk" bloc "On the events of March 1, 2008". "For" the document voted only 7 MPs from the "Elk" bloc, who consider themselves opposition to the "Tsarukyan" block for the incomprehensible reasons, decided not to participate in the voting, the factions of the Republican Party and the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" voted against the draft.
Prior to the vote, the head of the Elk faction Nikol Pashinyan reiterated the need to involve the second president Robert Kocharyan for interrogation in order to get an answer to the question of where he got information that the oppositionists were shooting at law enforcers because of the cars. In response, the former prosecutor general, now the head of the commission on state and legal issues of the parliament, Gevorg Kostanyan, assured that the materials on the events of March 1 have corresponding video recordings, but they are kept secret and can not be submitted to the deputies. Kostanyan's words did not convince Pashinyan, who again expressed his confidence that there are no records confirming Kocharyan's words in the materials of the case. Pashinyan's statement was grounded by another deputy from the Elk bloc Artak Zeynalyan, who prepared and submitted to the European Court of Human Rights an action on March 1 events. Zeynalian stressed that there was no record that the rally participants were shooting at law enforcers, since the Armenian authorities themselves admitted this when the ECHR asked to provide relevant video materials, if they really exist. But the deputy from Tsarukyan bloc Ararat Zurabyan, who during the March 1, 2008 events was in the camp of opposition presidential candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan, said: "No one doubts the fact that the oppositionists did not shoot law enforcers, then there remains an open rhetorical question, why in this case the authorities used weapons against the protesters. " It should be noted that the draft statement of the Yelk bloc states, in particular: "The National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, concerned that the cases of election fraud, violation of the right of voters to free expression of will in the country are not properly considered, emphasizing the importance of effective and safe implementation the right to peaceful, unarmed actions and the restoration of public solidarity in the country, expressing outrage that no one has been found guilty of the events that took place on March 1, 2018 in the center of E Revan, in particular in the killing of at least ten citizens of the Republic of Armenia, and the relatives of the victims is not fair compensation has been paid, considering unacceptable the practice of criminal prosecution of opposition politicians and activists, which is still practiced in the Republic of Armenia strongly condemns the fact that after the rigged Presidential elections of 2008, on the night of March 1 to 2, the RA Police used force against peaceful protesters, and the authorities launched persecution, counterfeit criminal cases and convictions against opposition politicians, activists. The National Assembly also requires law enforcement agencies republic in a short time to find and strictly punish those responsible for crimes committed on March 1,2, as well as those who committed illegal actions against peaceful demonstrators in the order, established by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia. We consider it impermissible to dissolve working group on March 1 events, since it could shed light concerning the participation of the army in these events, and election fraud, we urge the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia to reconsider indictments against opposition politicians and activists on March 1,2. We also undertake to develop a legislative package that will provide decent compensation to the relatives of the victims events of March 1, those who were convicted, as well as citizens who received injured by the police. " In 2008, the Armenian police used force against peaceful demonstrators, protesters in Freedom Square in Yerevan for ten days against falsifications during the presidential elections. "The protest of citizens was caused by the falsification of election results February 19, 2008, violence against proxies of opposition candidates, in particular, the presidential candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan. When the early morning of March 1, 2008, police dispersed a protest in Liberty Square, supporters Levon Ter-Petrosyan continued peaceful protest on the square near the Yerevan municipality, hoping that, given that there are foreign diplomatic missions in this territory, the police will refrain from using force. However, attempts to attacks on peaceful demonstrators by the police continued, forcing the protesters to defend their legal rights. During the event, killing at least 10 citizens of Armenia. After March 1, 2008, hundreds of activists have been subjected to drive by law enforcement agencies, many of them were arrested, more than 100 opposition politicians and activists were imprisoned.On October 23, 2008, under the pressure of the international community and the opposition, Serzh Sargsyan was forced to sign an order to create an expert the fact-finding team. The group quickly demonstrated its effectiveness, and in June 2009, Serzh Sargsyan unlawfully dissolved the group and thus avoided fully disclosing the March 1 events. The purpose of this statement is to present a political assessment of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, in particular the non-disclosure of the events, the murders on March 1, 2008, the authorities' attempts to hide important episodes, the political persecution of the authorities, the fact that relatives of victims and victims, the use of force by the police, did not receive legal compensation. " Recall that Robert Kocharian's press secretary Victor Soghomonyan, in response to Pashinyan's demand to involve the second president for interrogation, stated that Pashinyan is the main provoker of events on March 1, 2008. "These days, we have witnessed the most cynical events in the history of Armenia's independence - when the main provocateur event initiates in parliament hearings on the March 1 case, moreover, preside over them, sitting in a chair head of the National Assembly", - summed Soghomonyan.