MARCH 1 POLICE DID NOT FOLLOW PROCEDURE ON USE OF LETHAL WEAPONS: EXPERT

epress.am

07.27.2011

The police can use lethal weapons, but their use has to be according
to a specified procedure, said Armenian National Congress (HAK)
representative, member of the Mar. 1 fact-finding group Andranik
Kocharyan, responding to a request by Epress.am to provide a legal
assessment of head of the Special Investigative Service (SIS) group
charged with investigating the circumstances surrounding the events
of Mar. 1-2, 2008, Vahagn Harutyunyan’s statement that the use of
lethal weapons on Mar. 1, 2008, was legitimate.

“If there was an order to shoot, the shooter should have been familiar
with procedure. When it became known that they haven’t followed the
application procedure, when it became known that the Cheryomushki
7 application was also unlawful, only then did they say, ‘Oh no,
according to a 2006 parliamentary decision, this normative document
(about the use of Cheryomushki) is excluded from application.’ It
turns out Vahagn Harutyunyan doesn’t know that either; he considers
legitimate that which resulted in human deaths,” said Kocharyan.

Recall that mass protests against alleged electoral fraud followed the
2008 presidential election in Armenia. On Mar. 1-2, 2008, national
police and military forces, called in to disperse the crowds, used
“excessive force and violence” which left 10 people dead and many
more wounded.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress