Artur Sakunts: “Hovik Abrahamyan, Ruben Hayrapetyan… these are the names of the people who did a good service in the case of March 1″
12:18, May 27, 2014 | News, Own news | Right to Fair Trial
To solve the case of March 1, the Special Investigation Service must investigate a number of Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh high-ranking officials, servicemen and all the region governors (marzpets) in office at the time the events occurred and to inform the public at large about the progress of investigation.
At the press-release on investigation of the case of March 1 held at the Media Center, Artur Sakunts, the Chairman of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor,voiced the names of officials who, in his view, were involved in the crime but were never involved in its investigation.
The Chairman of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor stated that the following officials must be questioned: National Assembly Deputies Ruben Hayrapetyan, Harutyun Pambukyan and Mnats Mnatsakanyan as well as the Defense Minister in office at that time Mikayel Harutyunyan, commander of the Third Army Corps Levon Yeranosyan, etc.
The human rights defender mentioned that at least 30 or 35 oligarchs with their bodyguards were involved in violent actions against the people on March 1, and the Special Investigation Service must therefore involve the officials included in the published list for the benefit of solving the March 1 crime.
“The region governors must be questioned to find out their whereabouts as well as the instructions they received and the actions they took at the time of the March 1 events. Of particular interest are the actions of Surik Khachatryan, the former governor of Syunik”, pointed out Sakunts adding that all the people must be questioned who might have any information about transporting military units from the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to Armenia.
“What happened on March 1 was not a clash, but rather seizure of the state by employing the armed forces and all the resources of the state apparatus”, said Sakunts to air his position on the events of March 1, 2008.
Upon outlining the activities taken by the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor to reveal the March 1 events, Artur Sakunts emphasized: “Despite our enquiry on the results of the investigation, the Special Investigation Service finds it unreasonable to submit the requested information, while it is under obligation to provide information on any its action to reveal the crime of March 1.
The human rights defender also highlighted that the third Ombudsman of the RA mentioned in his report the fact of failure to conduct the investigation, while the issues on the March 1 eventsraised by the second Ombudsman of the RA in his special report are still on the agenda.
Artur Sakunts also presented the responses of the international entities to the March 1 events pointing out that back in 2012, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture made a special reference to March 1 events declaring that the state must speed up the investigation into murder of 10 persons.
Further, as the human rights defender proceeded with the unascertained facts of March 1 events, he noted that the Military Police officers shot videos that were never submitted to the SIS.
To sum up his statement, Arthur Sakunts emphasized that despite the fact that both the political power and the Head of the SIS have changed since 2008, the will to reveal the March 1 events is still missing.
The human rights defender has stated that investigating and solving the crime of March 1 remains the vital prerequisite for the development of our country, highlighting the need to make a public demand, since civic participation makes an essential part of justice.
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