Epress.am News from Armenia
Head of the Special Investigative Service (SIS) group charged with investigating the circumstances surrounding the events of Mar. 1–2, 2008, in Yerevan Vahagn Harutyunyan said the results of examining the Mar. 1 films indicate that there is no usable footage for identification purposes.
This news was conveyed during an “open doors” meeting with journalists and Vahagn Harutyunyan and senior prosecutor at the RA General Prosecutor’s Office, Harutyun Harutyunyan, who is also supervising the legality of the investigation into the Mar. 1 criminal case.
Vahagn Harutyunyan said the individual who uploaded the clips on YouTube has been questioned, as a result of which the SIS found out that the account “martimek2008” is used not only by this one individual, but by a group of individuals, and according to the account owner’s testimony, he cannot say who exactly are uploading the clips.
“Let’s leave it to the conscience of those who are uploading [the clips]: if they consider it appropriate, and if there is footage that really exist and hasn’t been examined yet, they can present it for investigation, in order to study it more closely and assess the results,” said the investigator.
“It’s necessary to find out who’s uploading the clips, first of all, for the aim of acquiring new evidence and for verifying their sources,” he said.
According to the investigator, uploading clips is not a crime. He said that one of the aims is urge those uploading the clips not to post unfounded, incompetent comments, as well as “to refrain from misleading the public for no reason.”
Vahagn Harutyunyan informed the press that questioned in the case thus far have been 140–143 people, whose responses were of a generally descriptive nature; that is, no substantive arguments or justifications tied to the deaths of the 10 people were heard.
Harutyunyan also mentioned that at this time, the first and second presidents of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrossian and Robert Kocharian, respectively, will not be questioned.
Prosecutor Harutyun Harutyunyan, in turn, said the General Prosecutor’s Office, for its part, is overseeing the legality of the investigation process and versions of the events are being offered and verified.
“As a prosecutor, I can assure you that the investigative group is doing everything; time will tell after all possible actions,” he said.