“March 1 was the continuation of April 12”
Six years ago, on April 12, the opposition coalition of 16 parties, the entire spectrum of the Armenian opposition, with the exception of the Pan-Armenian National Movement (HHSh), held a rally at Freedom Square followed by a march from Bagramyan Avenue to the building of the National Assembly.
The protesters settled down in front of barbed wires and demanded that the NA meet a CC decision and hold a referendum of confidence in the country. The CC handed down the decision after the presidential election of 2003.
Materials and evidence of violations submitted by the opposition were so convincing that CC President Gagik Harutyunyan was left with no other choice than making a decision on holding a referendum of confidence which the authorities deemed as irrelevant and failed to execute.
Instead, they used violence against peaceful demonstrators, which later Robert Kocahryan described as "an operation to clean the streets".
"Bagramyan Avenue is not a place for dancing," Robert Kocharyan told a press conference later in the day.
Talking to A1+, the country's Minister of Defense Serzh Sargsyan said, "We shall truncheon them if they break the public order."
The authorities kept their promise. Hundreds of people including journalists, MPs, were cudgeled outside the NA building. Numerous demonstrators and opposition activists, including Armenia's ex Defense Minister Vagarshak Harutyunyan, MPs Shavarsh Kocahryan and Alexander Karapetyan were detained.
On the night of April 13 the police, under the guise of search, stormed the offices of the opposition parties causing tremendous damage. Searches were conducted in the homes of opposition leaders followed by numerous arrests.
"The events of April 12 were a crime against Armenian people and if its perpetrators were punished, the country would not witness the clashes of March 1, 2008," Stepan Demirtchyan, a candidate for the 2003 presidential election, told A1+.
"Both the events of April 12 and March 1 speak of the regime's aspiration for power. March 1 was the continuation of April 12," added Mr. Demirtchyan.
In result of the April 12 events Armenia lost several lawsuits in the European Court of Human Rights and the country's authorities were condemned by different international structures.
