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TODAY MARKS 5 YEARS SINCE MARCH 1, 2008 POST-ELECTION TRAGEDY (VIDEOS)
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2013/03/01/march-tragedy/
11:30 ~U 01.03.13
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the March 1, 2008 post-electoral
unrest that later developed into violent clashes between the protesting
crowd and the police, leaving 10 people dead and scores of others
injured.
Dissatisfied with the outcomes of the 2008 presidential election,
hundreds of Armenians were holding protest demonstrations in Yerevan's
Liberty Square in late February. The crowd was led by first President
Levon Ter-Petrosyan who later became the head of the opposition
alliance Armenian National Congress. The last days of the protests
saw tents in the square with the names of different administrative
regions of Armenia.
Following the calls of Nikol Pashinyan, an opposition activist and
the editor-in-chief of the Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper, the crowd
was rallying round-the-clock, periodically cleaning the square of
dirt and rubbish.
A Wikileaks cable released two years later said that the then
president, Robert Kocharyan, sanctioned special police operations in
the area after the police forces and special services gave assurances
for clearing the square of opposition activists within just a couple
of minutes.
The leaked cable, dated March 10, 2008, was written by Dr. Joseph
Pennington, a deputy US ambassador to Armenia, who revealed details of
a secret meeting with Garnik Isagulyan, Kocharyan's security advisor.
According to the diplomat, Isagulyan had admitted that the police
operations were sanctioned by the second president.
Early in the morning on March 1, police officers assaulted the peaceful
crowd in the square on allegations of finding weapons, arm supplies
and Molotov cocktails. Most protesters, including women, were being
beaten in the vicinities.
A spontaneous protest erupted hours later in Myasnikyan Square
(outside the French and Russian Embassies) where the crowd dispersed
from Liberty Square had gathered together to continue the rally. The
police were redeployed in the area by the afternoon.
The atmosphere was growing tense, with several buses being turned
over and rumors circulating that a child had been shot to death in
Liberty Square early in the morning.
Rumors about deaths emerged a day later, but no exact number was
reported.
Days later it became clear that the violent clashes has claimed
the lives of 10 people, with eight being civilians. More than 200
received bodily injuries with different degrees of gravity. Over
100 activists were jailed following the turmoil. The deceased were
Tigran Khachatryan, Gor Kloyan, Grigor Gevorgyan, David Petrosyan,
Armen Farmanyan, Zakar Hovhannisyan, Samvel Haurutyunyan, Hamlet
Tadevosyan, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan and Tigran Abgaryan.
Myasnikyan Square will host a commemoration ceremony later today. A
crowd headed by the leader of the opposition Heritage party, Raffi
Hovhannisian and the opposition Armenian National Congress will lay
flowers at the Myasnikyan statue to remember the victims.
Following the March 2008 events, the Armenian directors Tigran
Paskevichyan and Ara Shirinyan produced the documentary Armenia:
Lost Spring, to describe the tragic developments. The film is
presented below.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2013/03/01/march-tragedy/
11:30 ~U 01.03.13
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the March 1, 2008 post-electoral
unrest that later developed into violent clashes between the protesting
crowd and the police, leaving 10 people dead and scores of others
injured.
Dissatisfied with the outcomes of the 2008 presidential election,
hundreds of Armenians were holding protest demonstrations in Yerevan's
Liberty Square in late February. The crowd was led by first President
Levon Ter-Petrosyan who later became the head of the opposition
alliance Armenian National Congress. The last days of the protests
saw tents in the square with the names of different administrative
regions of Armenia.
Following the calls of Nikol Pashinyan, an opposition activist and
the editor-in-chief of the Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper, the crowd
was rallying round-the-clock, periodically cleaning the square of
dirt and rubbish.
A Wikileaks cable released two years later said that the then
president, Robert Kocharyan, sanctioned special police operations in
the area after the police forces and special services gave assurances
for clearing the square of opposition activists within just a couple
of minutes.
The leaked cable, dated March 10, 2008, was written by Dr. Joseph
Pennington, a deputy US ambassador to Armenia, who revealed details of
a secret meeting with Garnik Isagulyan, Kocharyan's security advisor.
According to the diplomat, Isagulyan had admitted that the police
operations were sanctioned by the second president.
Early in the morning on March 1, police officers assaulted the peaceful
crowd in the square on allegations of finding weapons, arm supplies
and Molotov cocktails. Most protesters, including women, were being
beaten in the vicinities.
A spontaneous protest erupted hours later in Myasnikyan Square
(outside the French and Russian Embassies) where the crowd dispersed
from Liberty Square had gathered together to continue the rally. The
police were redeployed in the area by the afternoon.
The atmosphere was growing tense, with several buses being turned
over and rumors circulating that a child had been shot to death in
Liberty Square early in the morning.
Rumors about deaths emerged a day later, but no exact number was
reported.
Days later it became clear that the violent clashes has claimed
the lives of 10 people, with eight being civilians. More than 200
received bodily injuries with different degrees of gravity. Over
100 activists were jailed following the turmoil. The deceased were
Tigran Khachatryan, Gor Kloyan, Grigor Gevorgyan, David Petrosyan,
Armen Farmanyan, Zakar Hovhannisyan, Samvel Haurutyunyan, Hamlet
Tadevosyan, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan and Tigran Abgaryan.
Myasnikyan Square will host a commemoration ceremony later today. A
crowd headed by the leader of the opposition Heritage party, Raffi
Hovhannisian and the opposition Armenian National Congress will lay
flowers at the Myasnikyan statue to remember the victims.
Following the March 2008 events, the Armenian directors Tigran
Paskevichyan and Ara Shirinyan produced the documentary Armenia:
Lost Spring, to describe the tragic developments. The film is
presented below.