YEREVAN. – At Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, the government of Armenia decided to allocate 720 million drams—from the government reserve fund—to the Ministry of Justice, to provide assistance to the people affected by the events that occurred in March 2008, in capital city Yerevan.

The matter was presented by Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan. He recalled that the legal successors of those who died during those events will be given 30 million drams, those who sustained severe injuries—15 million drams, and those with moderate injuries—5 million drams.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, for his part, once again stated that this is not compensation, but assistance.

“We [the Armenian government] have to make decisions on the matter of compensation based on the decisions made by the ECHR [European Court of Human Rights],” he added. “But since we don’t know when the ECHR will make decisions on these matters, it shouldn’t seem as if our government doesn’t take any measures to render assistance to the casualties and affected of March 1.

“We make this decision based on the law passed by the National Assembly. In the end, we will close—based on the ECHR decisions—the matter of compensation for damages; I mean the amount. This is, in fact, an interim decision.”

And Rustam Badasyan noted that in making its decision, the ECHR might also take into account this decision by the Armenian government.

On March 1 and 2, 2008 the then authorities of Armenia used force against the opposition members who were rallying in downtown Yerevan, and against the results of the presidential election on February 19, 2008. Eight demonstrators as well as two servicemen of the internal troops were killed in the clashes.