In an interview with Aravot.am, Hovhannes Igityan, a member of the Armenian National Movement board, international expert, former chairman of the Armenian National Assembly Foreign Relations Committee, said that Armenia is not the only country to arrest a president, referring to the arrest of Armenian second president Robert Kocharyan: “There is nothing extraordinary, for instance, Jacques Chirac has recently been imprisoned for two years in France, there is a criminal case against Sarkozy, etc.”.
As for Armenia, according to our interlocutor: “Let us not forget that the March 1 events are not just an internal political issue, although our people want to know what really happened, why the troops fired, why people were killed and more than two hundred people were injured, etc. The events of March 1 were also reflected in the reports of international organizations as a requirement for Armenia to properly investigate the case, because of which the “Millennium Challenges” program was suspended. EU reports also mention March 1 as a phenomenon to be disclosed”.
According to Hovhannes Igityan, it is logical that the discovery begins from the very person who issued the orders, organized the crime, and that person is Robert Kocharyan in this case.
“He had no grounds to use the army and the disproportionate forces of the police on March 1. Let us remember the several thousand of people sleeping in tents in Liberty Square. There was no danger, people were just protesting the results of the presidential elections.
Robert Kocharian and his lawyers, supporters, Republicans are trying to make confusion, as if all this was done because there were disorders on the streets. However, they confuse the following: we talk about the morning of March 1 when Robert Kocharyan used the army, police forces against peaceful protesters. Two-month arrest or detention should not be regarded as punishment against Robert Kocharyan.
This should be viewed as part of the investigation procedure, and the sooner he gives testimonies on his orders, on the facts whether it was him who gave such orders, or whether his orders were wrongly implemented, what orders he had given to the Defense Minister, the National Security Service, the Police, whether why there were so many victims, the better”, said Mr. Igityan.
Gohar HAKOBYAN
