YEREVAN. – An investigation will be conducted into the March 1 case; [but] our department will not conduct it. At present, an investigation is in progress.
New director of the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia, Artur Vanetsyan, on Monday told the aforementioned to reporters in parliament.
When asked what role the NSS had played during the events that had occurred in capital city Yerevan on March 1, 2008, Vanetsyan responded as follows: “I can’t say whether or not the NSS had a role in those events, since at that time I wasn’t even hired [by the NSS] yet. I can’t say the format [as to whether] there will be a separate investigation, or there will be a commission on March 1. [But] we will be guided by whatever conclusion they will come in that format.”
On March 1, 2008, the then authorities used force against the opposition members who were rallying in downtown Yerevan. Eight demonstrators and two servicemen of the internal troops were killed in the clashes.
But no one has yet been brought to account for these deaths.
