No Privileged or Untouchables in Armenia: Alen Simonyan on Support for Victims of March 1 Events

During a discussion at the National Assembly regarding the draft law on support for individuals affected by the events that took place in Yerevan from March 1 to 2, 2008, Deputy Speaker Alen Simonyan stated, 'This law is about the fact that no one in Armenia should allow themselves to call Freedom Square Theater Square.'

Simonyan emphasized, 'This law is about the oligarchs not being able to raise their hands against the people anymore, and that the police will no longer raise their hands against the people of Armenia. This law signifies that there are no privileged or untouchables in Armenia, and finally, no one can threaten Armenian citizens by saying, "You have not learned lessons from March 1."'

He recalled a passage from the Bible where Pilate asks the people whom to release: Jesus or Barabbas, and the crowd responds by asking to release Barabbas. Simonyan noted, 'After that, Pilate washes his hands, and according to that story, Pilate's punishment in hell is that he keeps washing his hands, and they continuously bleed. Many people spend money to wash their hands, but they will never be clean.'