NEW FACTS: DISBANDED GROUP MEMBERS CONTINUE INVESTIGATION OF 03/01 EVENTS
Gayane Abrahamyan

ArmeniaNow reporter
18.05.10

Opposition members of the disbanded fact-finding group of Armenia’s
March 1, 2008 unrest have made public a report they say proves
that authorities called in military force to Yerevan prior to
the declaration of a State of Emergency, and in violation of the
constitution.

Seda Safaryan and Andranik Kocharyan, opposition members of the
fact-finding group disbanded a year ago by the order of president
say their facts "disprove the RA authorities’ attempts to refute the
implementation of army military equipment, transportation and staff
in the March 1, 2008 events before a state of emergency declaration."

The Constitution of Armenia bans involvement of the army in
inner-political issues. The members say they have video evidence
proving that heavy military was ordered into the capital as early as
the afternoon of March 1, several hours before the State of Emergency
was declared around 10 p.m.

Their report, the group members say, implicates then-President Robert
Kocharyan of acting outside the law when he "he involved the army in
inner-political actions, resulting in grave consequences: at least
ten people were murdered, hundreds were injured…"

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) also
appealed to examine the facts of the army involvement and punish those
who are responsible for it, putting into circulation a resolution
called "Involvement of the Army in the Events of March 2008 in
Armenia." However, no step has been taken in this respect until now.