The march of the “Yelk” alliance to the Myasnikyan statue was held. The march was dedicated to commemorate the victims of “March 1”, 2008 which was attended by the leader of the Alliance, President of “Bright Armenia” party and a member of the “Republic” party, Aram Sargsyan, and a Board member of “Civil Contract” Party Nikol Pashinyan. The latter told the reporters that the “March 1” killings remain unrevealed, “There are two people guilty for the incident: the then President Robert Kocharian and Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan… it is hard to believe even in the worst nightmare that the authorities will use combat weapons and ammunition against their own people but it happened whereas it should be excluded.”
As mentioned by Pashinyan, the investigation showed that there was no weapon with the demonstrators in the Liberty square, “It was not substantiation. Although the next day, Robert Kocharian said that everything is recorded on the camera and they will show but so far, we have not seen these footages.” As described by Pashinyan, there are some presuppositions of tension in the domestic political situation, which are associated with the RPA internal conflicts ahead of the elections, also with the change of registration of the citizens, “This must be stopped, otherwise, the situation will get worse.” Recall that the ANC will organize a rally in the Liberty Square, which will not be attended by the “Yelk”. Addressing the question, Nikol Pashinyan said, “We were not rejected but given the experience of previous years, we wanted to this day not to become a period of the fight of political parties for the Liberty Square.”
Note, mass protests were held in Armenia, after presidential elections on 2008. The protests were organized by the supporters of the First President of Republic of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosian. During the protest held on March 1st, 2008, clashes broke out between police and protesters. President Robert Kocharyan declared 20-day state of emergency.
