ANC presented the regular report over March 1 events.

Armenia’s former military prosecutor, Gagik Jhangiryan, has compiled a 10-page document on the Special Investigative Service’s report originally expected to raise public awareness of the March 2008 post-electoral turmoil in Yerevan. 

The senior representative of the opposition Armenian National Congress Jhangiryan particularly calls into question the fact that both the Service and the General Prosecutor’s office keep viewing the 2008 February peaceful rallies on Yerevan’s Liberty Square as mass gathering violating the law. He particularly argues that no well-known opposition figure has been so far sued or convicted for organizing a mass event (Article 225 of Armenia’s Criminal Code). 

“The March 1 police operations on Liberty Square were obviously illegal and criminally motivated, whereas the Armenian citizens’ self-defense measures were lawful and non-excessive,” he told reporters on Monday. 

Jhangiryan noted that the Special Investigative Service never considered second President Robert Kocharyan’s decree on declaring a state of emergency in the capital city. He said further that the army and police forces’ involvement in the March events was unconstitutional.

“As long as the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Special Investigative Service keep serving the authorities in violation of the law, the real perpetrators of the March 1-2 events - including those who committed murders - will be never held criminally liable,” he said.

The full ANC report is available through the following link: http://anc.am/