Order “0038” and the actions that took place on March 1, 2008 are not interconnected at all, and there are no horrible acts described in that order. This is what second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan’s attorney Aram Orbelyan declared during a May 17 press conference.

“There is no horrible act described in Order 0038. By this order, troops moved from one garrison to the next, deputies to the head of the garrison of Yerevan were assigned to support the process. There was no involvement of troops in the process as such, and troops had no contact with citizens on March 1. There were some cases in certain areas, but there is no such impression that troops entered the square and started shooting,” the attorney said.

When asked what his and his fellow attorneys’ expectations from the trial are, Orbelyan said the following:

“We hope the preventive measure (remand) is eliminated and personal pledge is selected as a preventive measure, in the worst case scenario.”

The attorneys also showed journalists never-before-seen scenes of the events of March 1 in which one can clearly see how demonstrators throw objects at armed police officers.