ArmInfo.The criminal prosecution against the former deputy chief of the Police of the Republic of Armenia, Alexander Afyan, which took place in the case of the events of March 1, 2008, was terminated. The Prosecutor General's Office confirms this information.
The prosecution of Afyan was terminated by the decision of the body conducting the proceedings, on the basis of the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution.
To recall, Afyan was charged on the grounds of Article 38-309 of the RA Criminal Code for assisting, abetting or organizing the abuse of power with the use of violence, weapons or special means. As the Special Investigation Service previously reported, Alexander Afyan, along with other high-ranking police officers (including the head of the RA Police at the time of the events, Hayk Harutyunyan), retroactively signed forged documents that were provided by the interim commission on events of March 1 2008 set by the decree of the president. In addition, in order to give legitimacy to police actions, a group of police officers retroactively dated February 29, 2008, compiled, signed and put into circulation false documents stating that allegedly separate units received information that the rally participants had firearms, ammunition, explosive devices. To this end, Kostanyan and Mheryan visited Sargsyan and forced a group of police officers to retroactively draw up a document on the basis of operational work on the spot (Freedom Square). Then, forged documents were compiled - the protocol of the operational meeting allegedly held in Alexander Afyan's office on February 29, approved by the head of the Yerevan Police Department Nerses Nazaryan, a plan for ensuring public order in Theater Square during the police inspection, and a whole series of documents. In the framework of this case, in September 2019, charges were brought against former Chief of the Police of Armenia Alik Sargsyan for abuse of power (Article 308 of the RA Criminal Code), official forgery (Article 314) and concealment of a crime (Article 334).