''The authorities directed the army against their own people''
Support A1+!"Armenia witnessed a military coup on March 1, 2008," says Coordinator of the Armenian National Congress (HAK) Levon Zurabyan. He reminds that the RoA Constitution bans army's intervention in the country's home affairs.
On February 18, the Public Commission looking into the events of March 1 presented its report on the deployment of army subdivisions in the downtown on March 1, 2008.
Instead of using our combat-ready and well-trained army against outer challenges, the authorities directed the army against our people in order to retain the power by force," says the report.
The opposition claims that Robert Kocharian, Ex Minister of Defence Michael Harutyunyan, Chief of the General Staff of the RoA Armed Forces Seyran Ohanyan and Head of the Yerevan garrison Yury Chachaturov should bear responsibility for engaging the armed forces of the Defence Ministry into internal political issues.
During today's press conference HAK senior representative Vladimir Karapetyan presented the report with supporting video materials.
The report holds that the criminal actions of the Armenian Police, in particular employment of armoured personnel carriers against peaceful demonstrators, has found deep resonance among the Armenian society; a natural and grounded reaction set down in Article 42 of the RoA Criminal Code - adequate protection.
At the end of the report the Commission calls on the fact-finding group to study the materials on the March 1 clashes and make a report.
