KOCHARIAN DEFENDS IMPOSING STATE OF EMERGENCY

ARMENPRESS
March 5, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 5, ARMENPRESS: President Robert Kocharian defended
today his decision to declare state of emergency in Yerevan late on
March 1 to quell a mass unrest saying further developments showed
that the state of emergency was a necessity and if not imposed the
damages and casualties would have been by far bigger.

He said the entire picture of the riot would be restored minute by
minute as there is a great deal of video images and other material
‘to give a right assessment and help law-enforcement bodies to track
down all inciters, masterminds and executors of the unrest.’ He said
investigators were told to work day and night to recover the whole
picture of developments as soon as possible.

Kocharian said these events have damaged the country’s image severely
and advised to make a retrospective look into Armenia of one month
ago to compare things then and now.

"When I am watching these video images I am ashamed, I can not believe
that that happened in Armenia," he said, adding that all must assess
the situation reasonably and join efforts to recover Armenia’s
good name.

Kocharian also said he will not extend the state of emergency that
expires on March 20.

"First of all law-enforcement bodies should specify the whereabouts of
the riot’s masterminds and their list and before we lift the state of
emergency we must be sure that nothing of that kind will ever occur
again,’ he said.

He said many of inciters and riot participants who used arms and
explosives against security troops are still at large and as long as
this issue is not resolved ‘we shall not lift the state of emergency.’
He also suggested that city authorities should deny any petition for
rallies until the situation is pacified again.