SARKISAN DISBANDS MARCH 1 PROBE BODY

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Jun 8th, 2009

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)-President Serzh Sarkisian disbanded on Monday a
bipartisan body investigating last year’s post-election unrest in
Yerevan after weeks of bitter wrangling between its pro-government
and pro-opposition members.

A short statement by the presidential press service said Sarkisian
annulled his October executive order on the establishment of the
Fact-Finding Group of Experts tasked with shedding more light on the
worst street violence in the Armenia’s history. It gave no reasons
for the decision.

The move was announced less than a week after Sarkisian stated
through a spokesman that he considers the six-month inquiry to have
been a failure. "Time has shown that … members of the Fact-Finding
Group have unfortunately failed to rid themselves of their political
agendas and to act as truly independent experts," the presidential
press secretary, Samvel Farmanian, told RFE/RL last Wednesday.

The work of the group was effectively paralyzed in early May by
mounting tensions among its five members. Two of them were chosen
by Sarkisian and his governing coalition, while two others by the
opposition Armenian National Congress and the Heritage party. Its
fifth member and chairman, Vahe Stepanian, was picked by the state
human rights ombudsman, Armen Harutiunian, in accordance with the
October directive signed by the Armenian president.

Stepanian resigned from the group late last month, saying that he has
failed to reconcile his wrangling colleagues. The latter have traded
more accusations in public since then. In particular, the group’s
pro-opposition members, Andranik Kocharian and Seda Safarian, have
accused the Armenian authorities of deliberately sabotaging the probe.

But Stepanian found the presidential order logical. "It can be said
that the Fact-Finding Group was not a success," he said. The two
other group members could not be reached for comment.

The group’s formation last fall reflected a lack of domestic and
international trust in the official criminal investigation as well
as a separate parliamentary inquiry into the March 2008 clashes.

In its first and only report submitted to parliament in late April,
the Fact-Finding Group disputed the official version of the death of
Captain Hamlet Tadevosian, one of the two police servicemen killed in
the violence. According to the law-enforcement authorities, Tadevosian
was killed by an explosive device thrown by one of the protesters. The
group’s report, signed only by Stepanian and the two pro-opposition
members, effectively denied this assertion.

Stepanian confirmed that the group has also prepared other,
unpublicized documents relating to the unrest. He expressed hope that
they will be used by the special commission of the Armenian parliament
conducting a similar probe.

The commission on Monday urged non-governmental organizations,
political parties and the opposition the Congress in particular to
submit "all kinds of facts and information regarding the events of
March 1-2" that they might have by July 1. The commission said it would
incorporate those facts into its final report due later this summer.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress