Epress.am News from Armenia
The monument to the Bolshevik revolutionary of Armenian descent Aleksandr Myasnikyan, located near Yerevan City Hall, has become a place where honored is the memory of 10 citizens of the Republic of Armenia, who were killed during the violent dispersal of peaceful demonstrations in March 2008.
It was here, pursued by law enforcement authorities and to the embassies of France and Russia, thousands of people fled who for 10 days around the clock protested the outcome of the Feb. 19, 2008 presidential election, the winner of which was soon declared to be then defense minister Serzh Sargsyan. His main rival (and the unsuccessful presidential candidate) continues to remain first president of the Republic of Armenia and leader of the opposition bloc the Armenian National Congress Levon Ter-Petrossian, whose supporters will gather together for a rally at 6 pm today.
Note, relatives of 7 of the victims of the tragic events of Mar. 1–2, 2008, on Wednesday wrote a letter to several European institutions, asking them to pay attention to the role of European institutions in concealing the murder of their loved ones. Local daily Haykakan Jamanak (“Armenian Times”), which published this story today, also mentioned that nothing is being done to reveal the circumstances surrounding these deaths and the case, currently in the hands of Armenia’s Special Investigation Service, essentially has been suspended. “However, this isn’t officially announced so as not to result in a public outcry,” the paper reported.
After 10 days of peaceful protests by tens of thousands of people in Liberty Square (adjacent to the Opera building), the national police and military forces tried to disperse the hundreds camping out overnight in the square on the night of Mar. 1. The square was locked down, people caught and beaten with truncheons and chased to the square in front of the municipality building, where people began to flock at dawn.
That evening, then president Robert Kocharian, backed by parliament, declared a 20-day state of emergency, banning future demonstrations and censoring the media from broadcasting any political news except those issued by official state press releases. During this time, the army was called in to quell the demonstrations. Along with the 10 deaths, many were injured and hundreds of opposition members were arrested and convicted.
No one has yet been found guilty for the 10 deaths and the incidents surrounding them. The Armenian authorities and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) have declared the “chapter on Mar. 1 closed.”
Epress.am edited the video above using excerpts from films about the events of Mar. 1–2, 2008, in Yerevan, and open source material.
An excerpt from Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto Grosso No. 1 was used in the film.