10 years later
People going to the Armenian parliament on October 27, 1999, couldn't imagine that the day would have such a tragic end. While, the perpetrators of the October 27 terrorist act iteratively portrayed the "grand finale" in their sick minds.
Armenian authorities were beheaded on October 27, 1999.
Ten years ago, on October 27, a group of five terrorists broke into Parliament Building at 5:13 and opened fire at the people sitting in the front rows.
Prime Minister of Armenia Vazgen Sargsyan and 7 other high-ranking officials - NA Speaker Karen Demitrchian, Vice-Speakers Yury Bakhshian and Ruben Miroyan, MPs Michael Kotanjian, Henrik Abrahamian, Armenak Armenakyan and Minister Leonid Petrosian were shot dead.
The shooting left a few deputies and ministers wounded. Others were taken hostage in the hall of sittings.
Official sources didn't confirm the assassination of the country's leaders for five hours.
Only after 10 p.m. the high-ranking officials were announced killed.
The bodies were removed from the parliament late at night.The gunmen, among them Nairi Hunanian, an obscure former journalist, his brother and uncle, surrendered to police after overnight negotiations with then President Robert Kocharian.
The hostages were set free in the morning after the terrorists were promised security grounds.
The trial in the case of October 27 terrorist act opened in January, 2001 and lasted for three years. In the meantime, Armenia became a member of the Council of Europe, ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, and later its 6th provision thus abolishing the capital punishment.
The terrorists were tried and sentenced to life imprisonment.
