SIS: “Page of March 1 is not closed”
"The page of March 1 cannot be considered closed," Vahagn Harutyunyan, a senior Special Investigation Service (SIS) official heading the probe into the events of March 1, 2010, told A1+.
"The case of March 1 is not dismissed unless the circumstances of the ten victims are exposed. The page of March 1 cannot be closed even if the investigation is declared closed. Some episodes may be disclosed in 3 or 5 years which may lead to the revelation of the perpetrators," he added.
To date, 117 have been sued on different charges in connection with the March 1st events. The assassins are not detected, though names of four policemen firing at four victims are known.
Ara Hovhannisyan who reportedly seized a weapon from a policeman received the toughest sentence - nine years of imprisonment. A general amnesty was declared a year later, on June 19, 2009, after the recurrent sitting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. As a result, 23 out of 32 convicts were granted pardon. Another nine individuals are currently kept in custody.
The four policemen using Cheriomukha -7" tear gas grenades and killing at least four demonstrators on March 1 are charged with negligent handling of weapons (Article 373, RA Criminal Code), not with homicide.
The preliminary investigation into the case of Armenian businessman Khachatur Sukiasian charged with the March 1 disorder is not completed either. Vahagn Harutyunyan says the investigation is underway but doubts to say when it will end.
None of the Armenian Presidents has been called to examination in connection with the events. Nor did the police examine a number of key figures, oligarchs and Defense Minister Michael Harutyunyan who was accused of involving the country's Armed Forces in the home political processes.
"We have no facts to invite them to a questioning," said Mr. Harutyunyan.
