The main crime of March 1, 2008 is of course the murder of 10 people. I share the pain of the relatives and I think that crime can be revealed. But let us suppose (just only supposedly) it is not possible. Is it possible to check whether the attack on people on March 1 was justified? It was clear that the situation gradually was relieving, and those sleeping in the Freedom Square would not be in danger to anyone. And most importantly, even if it was justified, were the police actions legitimate?
It is impossible to find out who were arrested on March 2 and on the following days? Again, if we admit that there were disorders, were all these people engaged in “mass disorders”? Are not dozens of arrests conditioned by the fact that they were heading the campaign headquarters of the opposition candidate? Have all the arrested persons done their sinful acts?
Of course, one of the issues that troubled me was the introduction of state censorship on March 1-20, 2008. (Fortunately, one of my colleagues, Levon Barseghyan, focused on that during the recent hearings). Censorship in Armenia is forbidden both by previous and existing Constitution. And it is obvious that it was censorship: what does it mean to oblige media to provide only official information? In this case, this is not a news outlet, but an official bulletin. What does it mean to appoint a “KGB serviceman” in the print house to check the contents of the newspaper, and either allows to print the paper or not? What does it mean to prohibit the providers to distribute the network content of the media? I think this is an obvious censorship. And this, in its turn, is a gross violation of the Constitution.
I want to say that there are many other issues related to March 1, except for the discovery of the murders. Of course, these issues will not be solved through the shows of the National Assembly. It is an absolutely different genre event. That does not mean that I am trying to blame anyone for a “planned game”. Zhirinovsky and Sobchak also are not told by the Kremlin how to attract the audience’s attention during the “debate”. They know their job very well without the help of Kremlin.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
