Today is the 16th anniversary of the March 1 crime.
After the presidential elections held on February 19, 2008, the then-current government ensured the “victory” of Serzh Sargsyan through widespread election fraud and violations, after which hundreds of thousands of Armenians came out to the square in support of the opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan and rejected the usurpation of power.
There were round-the-clock demonstrations in the center of the capital for 10 days. The powerful popular movement and the announced round-the-clock rally made the authorities understand that keeping the usurped presidential seat was no longer possible, so the authorities resorted to violence. First, at dawn on March 1, special police forces attacked and violently dispersed the round-the-clock rallies in Freedom Square. During the day, the people gathered near the statue of Myasnikyan, and already in the evening, the regime resorted to weapons and shot at its people.
Ten citizens died, and hundreds were injured. A state of emergency was declared in the country. Hundreds of supporters of Levon Ter-Petrosyan were arrested and convicted on fabricated charges. Later, most of those criminal cases were appealed to the ECHR and overturned, and those convicted on trumped-up charges in the March 1 case were acquitted.
On March 1, 2018, the criminal case was reopened, and charges were brought against then-President Robert Kocharyan, former Minister of Defense Mikayel Harutyunyan, and at that time, the head of the National Security Service, Seyran Ohanyan, for forcibly overthrowing the constitutional order. However, after lengthy court battles, the criminal code article, according to which the charge was brought, was declared unconstitutional. It was also found that the evidence related to March 1 was falsified in the law enforcement system. The criminal case initiated in this connection is still being investigated.
