“The infamous 0038 order does not present any problems and it has not presented unconstitutional and illegal situations as the Special Investigative Service says it does. Just the opposite. It prevented the army’s involvement in the protests, because there was data that showed that works were underway to bring soldiers to Freedom Square,” Robert Kocharyan’s lawyer Hayk Alumyan told reporters regarding accusations that Kocharyan, through giving the 0038 order, involved the army in inter-political affairs.
According to Hayk Alumyan, when the results of that order are publicized completely, everyone will realize that there were no consequences. “The events of March 1st and that order have nothing to do with each other. Particularly, when the preliminary results of the elections were published on February 21st, 2008, the losing candidate, Levon Ter-Petrossian, his allies, and many others went to protest on Freedom Square. He announced that he had won and they needed to get rid of the regime. He did all of that while also appealing to the Constitutional Court to appeal the results of the elections. No one tried to get in the way of the protests until March 1st. Then, worrisome information was spread that some people were trying to get the army involved in the political process so that soldiers could come to the square and use their weapons against the authorities.”
He continued, “The only purpose of order 0038 was to not allow such developments until March 1st. The events of March 1st have nothing to do with that. Could you imagine what would have happened if soldiers came to Yerevan armed? That needed to be prevented. One day, people will be grateful to those who prevented it.”
Luiza Sukiasyan
