The prosecutor`s office has referred a criminal case against the former commander of the police forces to court

ArmInfo. The Prosecutor's Office has submitted to court the criminal case against the former commander of the police forces, accused in the March 1 case, with an approved indictment. This was stated in a statement by the supervisory body.

According to the statement, as part of the criminal proceedings initiated in connection with the events that took place in Yerevan on March 1-2, 2008, on September 4, 2026, the Prosecutor's Office opened a public criminal case against G.G. (Grigor Grigoryan - ed.), who held the position of Commander of the RA Police Troops and Deputy Chief of Police from 2003 to July 2, 2008, was charged under Part 2 of Article 376 of the Criminal Code adopted on April 18, 2003 (negligent attitude towards service, resulting in grave consequences due to negligence).

During the criminal investigation, it was revealed that G.G., as commander, Ignoring the fact that in 2008 the necessary legal acts regarding the procedure for the use of special equipment by the RA Police forces were absent, due to his negligent attitude towards service, he failed to take measures to provide his subordinate units with appropriate and up-to-date weapons and special equipment and to organize their safe and correct use.

Specifically, on March 1, 2008, during the events that unfolded at the intersection of Paronyan, Grigor Lusavorich, Leo Streets, and Mashtots Avenue, Grigoryan, directly and through his subordinate commanders, ordered Police service members to fire Cheremukha-7 tear gas grenades, designed for use indoors, at demonstrators using special KS-23 carbines. As a result, three protesters died, two suffered serious injuries, and another sustained moderate injuries.

On October 7, 2026, the prosecutor transferred the criminal case against G.G. to the Yerevan Criminal Court of First Instance with the approved indictment.

As a reminder, on March 1, 2008, following the presidential elections held on February 19, which were won by Serzh Sargsyan, riots broke out in Yerevan, culminating in clashes with law enforcement. The Armenian opposition, led by first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who also ran in the elections, held rallies in central Yerevan beginning February 20, expressing dissatisfaction with the voting results. On March 1-2, protests erupted into riots and clashes between protesters and law enforcement, resulting in 10 deaths, including police officers, and over 200 injuries of varying severity. On August 17, 2018, Nikol Pashinyan announced that the case surrounding the events of March 1-2, 2008, in Yerevan had been fully resolved.