ArmInfo. The Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia intends to reclassify the charges against the three defendants in the case on March 1, 2008 from "overthrow of the constitutional order" to "offense in office." Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan stated at a meeting of the relevant commission in parliament, presenting details about the progress of the case.
15 years ago, after the next presidential elections held on February 19, which Serzh Sargsyan won, riots broke out in Yerevan, resulting in clashes with law enforcement officials. The Armenian opposition, led by first President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who also ran in the elections, has been holding rallies in the center of Yerevan since February 20, expressing dissatisfaction with the results of the vote. Protests resulted in riots and clashes between protesters and law enforcement forces on March 1-2, which resulted in the death of 10 people, including police officers, and over 200 injuries of varying severity.
In 2021, the court decided to terminate the criminal case regarding "March 1", since the Constitutional Court declared Article 300.1 (overthrow of the constitutional order) unconstitutional, under which the second President Robert Kocharyan, former Chief of the General Staff Yuri Khachaturov and ex-Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan were charged.
According to Vardapetyan, earlier the Constitutional Court did not want to consider the Prosecutor General's application to reclassify the case, pointing out the lack of subjectivity in the case. Now the supervisory authority has filed a complaint with the Court of Cassation, asking to find out the position of the Constitutional Court regarding the possibility of reclassifying the actions of three former officials as "offense of office."
As for the persons in inter-court proceedings, according to the Prosecutor General, a reclassification has taken place. "At the moment, the case is in court and an investigation is underway. It was sent to court because the person did not agree to terminate the criminal prosecution on unjustifiable grounds," Vardapetya said.
The Prosecutor General also noted that the investigation into the case of abuse of power by an investigator of the investigative group was separated from the proceedings and sent to court with an indictment on August 12, 2023. "It was sent to court because the person did not agree to terminate the criminal prosecution on unjustifiable grounds," Vardapetyan said.
In addition, convictions in approximately 30 cases related to criminal prosecutions initiated against persons participating in the events of March 1 were overturned. Acquittals and partial judgments were issued against one person. "Out of 30 cases, 16 complaints were filed by the Prosecutor General's Office," noted Anna Vardapetyan.
At the same time, as Vardapetyan indicated, the question of the expiration of the statute of limitations in the case on March 1 will still arise. "The difference here lies in the termination of criminal prosecution on exculpatory and non-exculpatory grounds. We will simply give the appropriate legal assessment, and why not. We can also discuss issues related to compensation, because in the event of termination of proceedings on unfounded grounds, claims may be brought against the person who caused the consequences through some other procedures. This gives certain opportunities to victims from a legal point of view," the Prosecutor General explained.