Mar. 1 Investigation Not Completed Because All Those Responsible Not Yet Been Found: Armenian President

The investigation into the events of Mar. 1–2, 2008, hasn’t wrapped for the simple reason that all those responsible have not yet been found, said Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan at a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) session in Strasbourg Wednesday, in response to a question by PACE member, Lithuanian MP Egidijus Vareikis.

“As for why [those responsible] have not been uncovered, this has relatively large and foundational reasons — understandable, I think, also for a great many. As for the professional readiness of our experts, just as in all countries, there are also in Armenia good specialists, average specialists and bad specialists. We have involved our best specialists in this task and a huge amount of work has been done.

“By the way, I have to say, with the request for assistance, we appealed to all states, all structures, and here I have to express my gratitude to Mr. [Thomas] Hammarberg [the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights], who was the only one that exerted efforts in assisting us with [providing] an expert.

“I believe, you must be aware, that I made a statement recently: I advised the General Prosecutor’s Office and investigative agencies to more thoroughly, more fundamentally, more scrupulously address this case. And I hope that the investigative group will use all of its opportunities in uncovering all the crimes. And I believe that the investigative group’s activities, which are very transparent and this group has recently given everyone the opportunity, including members of the press, to hold meetings twice a month and to get answers to all those questions which interest them,” he said.