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MYSTERIOUS DEATHS: OCTOBER 27 WITNESSES DIED UNDER STRANGE CIRCUMSTANCES
17:58 | October 27,2014 | Politics
Fifteen years have passed since the October 27, 1999 terrorist act in
the Armenian parliament. On that day, a group of armed men spraying
automatic gunfire swept into the parliament, killing Armenian Prime
Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, Parliament Speaker Karen Demirtchyan and
several other leading politicians. Fifteen years have passed since
the tragedy but the perpetrators of the crime have not been identified
to this day.
The investigation that lasted for 2 years and nine months did not yield
any results. According to official reports, all possible investigative
measures and operations were performed; they conducted numerous
confrontations, inspections, seizures and appointed examinations,
studied and reviewed numerous documents. However, the long trial of the
gunmen failed to shed light on key questions, including how the armed
gunmen led by former journalist Niari Hunanyan were able to get an
accreditation to parliament through Armenian state television, or how
the men were able to get their weapons and ammunition into the chamber.
Tigran Nazaryan, a key witness of the case, died unexpectedly in
the United States in March 2014. Nazaryan was the man who spent
two hours with Nairi Hunanyan after the October 27, 1999 terrorist
attack and who testified by telephone from the US giving details from
the private conversation between Hunanyan and then-President Robert
Kocharyan. Nazaryan said the conversation could, in fact, be recorded
as there were all technical conditions. This means, he either admits
that there is such recording, or makes everyone understand that its
'non-existence' is strange.
It is more amazing that in 2000 the Public television sent its
correspondent [Tigran Nazaryan] to the US and then suspended the
contract with him, depriving him of the opportunity to return to his
homeland. Nazaryan even gave an interview to one of the newspapers,
saying he was subjected to pressure and intimidation and was said he
would lose his life if he ever returned to Armenia. Tigran Nazaryan
could have answered many questions if he were alive...
Several people who were somewhat linked to the October 27 parliamentary
carnage died under suspicious circumstances
In 2000, Norayr Yeghiazaryan, who had sold weapons to the gang, died
under unknown conditions, allegedly died from electrocution, in an
isolation cell in Nubareshen prison. Yeghiazaryan was an electrician.
However, reports said that his head carried traces of blows which
was immediately brushed away by officials.
In 2002, Tigran Naghdalyan, 36, Chairman of the Board of the Armenian
Public Television and a key witness of the case, was shot dead at the
doorstep of his apartment. Armen Sargsyan (brother of assassinated
Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan) was accused and imprisoned for
Naghdalyan's murder, however, suspicion has surrounded Naghdalyan's
death that he was assassinated as an October 27 witness.
In 2004, Vram Galstyan (uncle of Nairi Hunanyan) committed suicide
in prison by hanging from a bed sheet. Throughout his trial Galstyan
claimed that authorities had injected him with psychotropic drugs,
and that they pressured him to commit suicide "so that the truth
remained unrevealed." Galstyan had been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Several months later, National Assembly deputy Mushegh Movsisyan,
47, another key witness of the case, died in a car accident on
Aparan-Yerevan roadway. Movsisyan was the brother of Republican MP
Arakel Movsisyan. After the accident, he underwent several surgeries
but to no avail. He died in hospital without gaining consciousness.
The same year, Roza Hovhannisyan, a nurse on the witness list, died
in an accident in the US.
Another witness in the case, Hasmik Abrahamyan, 45, an employee of
the NA Protocol Department, was found hanged in the NA building again
in 2004.
In 2010, Hamlet Stepanyan, who was sentenced to 14 years for his role
in the October 27 terrorist attack on the Armenian Parliament, was
found dead in Nubarshen penitentiary. According to prison officials,
Hamlet Stepanyan, 57, died of a heart attack but his attorney claimed
that Stepanyan did not have any health problems. Stepanyan's sentence
would have been completed in about three years. He was the third
among six defendants of the controversial case who died in prison,
leading human right defenders to question whether the death was by
natural causes.
Among the gunmen, who are serving their prison sentences, are Nairi
Hunanyan and Karen Hunanyan, Derenik Bejanyan, Ashot Knyazyan and
Edik Grigoryan.
The latter had a stent implanted in his heart in October 29, 2013.
Nairi Hunanyan also underwent surgery. He has once requested the
court to review his sentence by changing life term with 20 years'
imprisonment but his request has been rejected.
The attorneys involved in the case claim that there is enough evidence
[obtained during the investigation and trial ] to disclose the crime,
i, of course, there is political will.
http://en.a1plus.am/1199038.html
17:58 | October 27,2014 | Politics
Fifteen years have passed since the October 27, 1999 terrorist act in
the Armenian parliament. On that day, a group of armed men spraying
automatic gunfire swept into the parliament, killing Armenian Prime
Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, Parliament Speaker Karen Demirtchyan and
several other leading politicians. Fifteen years have passed since
the tragedy but the perpetrators of the crime have not been identified
to this day.
The investigation that lasted for 2 years and nine months did not yield
any results. According to official reports, all possible investigative
measures and operations were performed; they conducted numerous
confrontations, inspections, seizures and appointed examinations,
studied and reviewed numerous documents. However, the long trial of the
gunmen failed to shed light on key questions, including how the armed
gunmen led by former journalist Niari Hunanyan were able to get an
accreditation to parliament through Armenian state television, or how
the men were able to get their weapons and ammunition into the chamber.
Tigran Nazaryan, a key witness of the case, died unexpectedly in
the United States in March 2014. Nazaryan was the man who spent
two hours with Nairi Hunanyan after the October 27, 1999 terrorist
attack and who testified by telephone from the US giving details from
the private conversation between Hunanyan and then-President Robert
Kocharyan. Nazaryan said the conversation could, in fact, be recorded
as there were all technical conditions. This means, he either admits
that there is such recording, or makes everyone understand that its
'non-existence' is strange.
It is more amazing that in 2000 the Public television sent its
correspondent [Tigran Nazaryan] to the US and then suspended the
contract with him, depriving him of the opportunity to return to his
homeland. Nazaryan even gave an interview to one of the newspapers,
saying he was subjected to pressure and intimidation and was said he
would lose his life if he ever returned to Armenia. Tigran Nazaryan
could have answered many questions if he were alive...
Several people who were somewhat linked to the October 27 parliamentary
carnage died under suspicious circumstances
In 2000, Norayr Yeghiazaryan, who had sold weapons to the gang, died
under unknown conditions, allegedly died from electrocution, in an
isolation cell in Nubareshen prison. Yeghiazaryan was an electrician.
However, reports said that his head carried traces of blows which
was immediately brushed away by officials.
In 2002, Tigran Naghdalyan, 36, Chairman of the Board of the Armenian
Public Television and a key witness of the case, was shot dead at the
doorstep of his apartment. Armen Sargsyan (brother of assassinated
Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan) was accused and imprisoned for
Naghdalyan's murder, however, suspicion has surrounded Naghdalyan's
death that he was assassinated as an October 27 witness.
In 2004, Vram Galstyan (uncle of Nairi Hunanyan) committed suicide
in prison by hanging from a bed sheet. Throughout his trial Galstyan
claimed that authorities had injected him with psychotropic drugs,
and that they pressured him to commit suicide "so that the truth
remained unrevealed." Galstyan had been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Several months later, National Assembly deputy Mushegh Movsisyan,
47, another key witness of the case, died in a car accident on
Aparan-Yerevan roadway. Movsisyan was the brother of Republican MP
Arakel Movsisyan. After the accident, he underwent several surgeries
but to no avail. He died in hospital without gaining consciousness.
The same year, Roza Hovhannisyan, a nurse on the witness list, died
in an accident in the US.
Another witness in the case, Hasmik Abrahamyan, 45, an employee of
the NA Protocol Department, was found hanged in the NA building again
in 2004.
In 2010, Hamlet Stepanyan, who was sentenced to 14 years for his role
in the October 27 terrorist attack on the Armenian Parliament, was
found dead in Nubarshen penitentiary. According to prison officials,
Hamlet Stepanyan, 57, died of a heart attack but his attorney claimed
that Stepanyan did not have any health problems. Stepanyan's sentence
would have been completed in about three years. He was the third
among six defendants of the controversial case who died in prison,
leading human right defenders to question whether the death was by
natural causes.
Among the gunmen, who are serving their prison sentences, are Nairi
Hunanyan and Karen Hunanyan, Derenik Bejanyan, Ashot Knyazyan and
Edik Grigoryan.
The latter had a stent implanted in his heart in October 29, 2013.
Nairi Hunanyan also underwent surgery. He has once requested the
court to review his sentence by changing life term with 20 years'
imprisonment but his request has been rejected.
The attorneys involved in the case claim that there is enough evidence
[obtained during the investigation and trial ] to disclose the crime,
i, of course, there is political will.
http://en.a1plus.am/1199038.html