SIS: "PAGE OF MARCH 1 IS NOT CLOSED"

0/03/1/vahagn-harutyunyan
04:19 pm | March 01, 2010 |

"The page of March 1 cannot be considered closed," Vahagn Harutyunyan,
a senior Special Investigation Service (SIS) official heading the
probe into the events of March 1, 2010, told A1+.

"The case of March 1 is not dismissed unless the circumstances of the
ten victims are exposed. The page of March 1 cannot be closed even if
the investigation is declared closed. Some episodes may be disclosed
in 3 or 5 years which may lead to the revelation of the perpetrators,"
he added.

To date, 117 have been sued on different charges in connection with
the March 1st events. The assassins are not detected, though names
of four policemen firing at four victims are known.

Ara Hovhannisyan who reportedly seized a weapon from a policeman
received the toughest sentence – nine years of imprisonment. A
general amnesty was declared a year later, on June 19, 2009, after
the recurrent sitting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe. As a result, 23 out of 32 convicts were granted pardon.

Another nine individuals are currently kept in custody.

The four policemen using Cheriomukha -7" tear gas grenades and killing
at least four demonstrators on March 1 are charged with negligent
handling of weapons (Article 373, RA Criminal Code), not with homicide.

The preliminary investigation into the case of Armenian businessman
Khachatur Sukiasian charged with the March 1 disorder is not completed
either. Vahagn Harutyunyan says the investigation is underway but
doubts to say when it will end.

None of the Armenian Presidents has been called to examination in
connection with the events. Nor did the police examine a number
of key figures, oligarchs and Defense Minister Michael Harutyunyan
who was accused of involving the country’s Armed Forces in the home
political processes.

"We have no facts to invite them to a questioning," said
Mr. Harutyunyan.