Wednesday, March 21 2018 12:05

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.