INVESTIGATION BODY SLURS OVER MARCH 1 CASE, ANC COORDINATOR STATES

Noyan Tapan
Aug 24, 2009

YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian National Congress (ANC)
has made a statement on the process of punishing all those guilty
of the disclosure of the 2008 March 1 events. ANC Coordinator Levon
Zurabian publicized the statement at an August 21 press conference.

"The 2008 March 1 crime of the regime against its own people,
peaceful demonstrants’ slaughter was followed by Armenian society’s
and international community’s, in particular, Council of Europe’s
demand to create a committee of an independent body to investigate the
events. It was considered as a pivotal demand as everybody understands
that the political crisis cannot be overcome in Armenia without making
clear the circumstances of the March 1 slaughter and punishing those
guilty," the ANC statement read.

According to the statement, in spite of the authorities’ attempts
to fail fact-finding committee’s work, the NA Ad-hoc Committee
received 3 reports from the fact-finding committee with flashy
revelations. "However the Ad-hoc Committee violating elementary rules
and commitments proceeding from the very mission declared by it,
has not made these proved, argumented reports a subject of public
and detailed discussion so far. Moreover, the committee members
violating the principle of impartiality before publication of the
final conclusion already make political statements and qualifications,
which serve official versions of the authorities. Such a conduct of the
Ad-hoc Committee is one more proof that indeed it is a committee of
slurring over the March 1 crimes, the only goal of which is to serve
the acting robber regime and to implement of the order of justifying
hundreds of violations of human rights and democracy norms. All
political forces included in the NA Ad-hoc Committee with their
humiliating role in essence finally and totally become an accomplice
to the March 1 crime and bear equal responsibility. It can be already
surely said that the report of the NA Ad-hoc Committee to be published
in September is a fiction, it will be written by disregarding the
current factual material, according to our information, even not in
this committee but at executive power’s cabinets," the ANC statement
read.

Under the circumstances the Armenian National Congress calls the
fact-finding committee for continuing its fact-finding activity as,
according to the statement, today after publication of its three
reports it has been established as the only instance of disclosure
of facts and the truth, enjoys confidence of society, as well as of
the international community.

According to L. Zurabian, the authorities got afraid of the three
reports presented, therefore the President ordered to dissolve the
fact-finding committee. The authorities declare that disclosure of
March 1 is the affair of the investigation body. However, indeed,
according to L. Zurabian, the investigation body slurs over the case.