YEREVAN. – Since Tuesday morning, numerous politicians and ordinary citizens of Armenia are placing flowers at the Myasnikyan Statue in downtown capital city Yerevan, and paying tribute to the ten people who were killed eight years ago on this day.

Opposition Prosperous Armenia Party representatives, opposition Armenian National Congress National Assembly Faction members, opposition Free Democrats Party representatives, and independent MP Edmon Marukyan were among those who visited the statue and paid their respects to the victims of this tragedy.

Eight years have passed since the tragic events in capital city Yerevan, and which claimed ten lives.

The Armenian opposition did not recognize the official results of the presidential election of February 19, 2008. 

On February 21, then opposition leader, First President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, started a round-the-clock rally at Liberty Square, and several thousands of people took part in marches demanding to cancel the official election results.  

In the morning of  March 1, however, the police forcibly dispersed the “tent camp” at the square, this was ensued by mass arrests of opposition activists.

But close to the midday, a great number of opposition supporters gathered near Myasnikyan Statue in downtown. They began to build barricades expecting the second-force operation of the authorities.

At 9pm, the operation on the forcible dispersal of the multi-thousand rally was launched. Consequently, eight demonstrators and two servicemen of the Internal Troops died.

As a result, then-President Robert Kocharyan declared a 20-day state of emergency in Yerevan.

To this day, no one has been held accountable for the ten deaths.