PARLIAMENTARY AD HOC COMMITTEE ON INQUIRY INTO MARCH 1 EVENTS SHOULD ADOPT TOUGHER POSITION, GURGEN ARSENIAN BELIEVES

Noyan Tapan
Feb 20, 2009

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 20, NOYAN TAPAN. "The current situation in Armenia
is unprecedented in modern criminology: there were three victims,
four carabines, four shots and we are unable to identify which shots
caused human death," member of the National Assembly ad hoc committee
on inquiry into March 1 events, chairman of the United Labor Party
(ULP) Gurgen Arsenian said at the February 20 press conference, when
addressing the problem of the citizens killed as a result of the use
of special weapons by the police in Yerevan on March 1. In his words,
if the appropriate bodies are unable to find out whose shots killed
three participants in the rally, two opinions form involuntarily. The
first is that the state considers those killed as rebels and does not
care about their deaths, and the second opinion is that all the three
persons were killed as a result of actions of a fanatic-policeman. In
order to refute these opinions, according to G. Arsenian, it is
necessary to reveal the truth.

The leader of ULP added that the ad hoc committee’s work is like a
pyramid, in conquering whose top the committee members "meet with
stiff resistance".

G. Arsenian, however, did not clarify who offers that resistance. He
only said that the committee "should adopt a tougher position and
invite some high-ranking officials – former head of the police and
former defence minister for a talk". In his words, if armed forces
were used against demonstrators prior to declaration of the state of
emergency, it is a violation of the law.