“NA was an accomplice to the crimes of March 1”
Leader of the NA "Heritage" faction Stepan Safaryan is more than sure that the first person responsible for the events of 1 March 2008 was the person in the big chair, followed by other state officials.
What especially drew Stepan Safaryan's attention in Robert Kocharyan's interview on the events of March 1 was the part about the state of emergency.
"A state of emergency was declared by violation of the law. According to the European Convention on Human Rights ratified by Armenia, Armenia was obliged to inform the CE Secretary General before taking any step aimed at restricting human rights, but it didn't. This is enough to say that the Armenian authorities gave an inadequate and an illegitimate response to the events that took place on 1 March 2008."
Mr. Safaryan says the parliament has its share of the blame for the events of March 1.
"By a twist of fate and with its status, "Heritage" was also present at the NA session. We recall what happened. The Armenian authorities could have acted differently that day. If we lived in a normal country, on that day, the NA would have convened a special session and given political solutions. We have mentioned several times that the NA was an accomplice to the crimes of March 1, 2008."
Stepan Safaryan shares the view that with this interview, Robert Kocharyan is hinting Serzh Sargsyan not to try to throw the blame for the events on him.
"I'm afraid that the investigation that Serzh Sargsyan promised will end with backfires in the presses, but all three presidents shouldn't provide information in the presses, but in the court. I fear that it will end with each side making it clear that nobody can throw the blame on them. As a result, there will nothing more than a discussion."
As for Robert Kocharyan's statement that nobody gave the command to fire at people on March 1, Stepan Safaryan said:
"Based on our political system, nobody would have taken such a "courageous" step without a command. The system is under control, starting from the average police officer. There couldn't have been a massacre in Yerevan without a command."
