This Is a Fact That Requires No Verification: Mikoyan on March 1 Events

The second President of the Republic, Robert Kocharyan, in reference to the European Court of Human Rights ruling on the "March 1 case," stated at a press conference on October 7 that the main point of the decision is that the state has not made sufficient efforts to clarify the circumstances of the deaths. One of the websites has published a fact-check claiming the second president's statement is misleading.

“Yerevan.Today” addressed the head of the second president Robert Kocharyan's office, Bagrat Mikoyan, asking for a comment on the "fact-check." Mikoyan stated: “I have familiarized myself with yet another ‘fact-check.’ And has anyone ever said that the right to life of those killed on March 1 was not violated or that a tragedy did not occur? The ECHR has primarily noted facts that were evident, and there was no need for an entire fact-check to see this. The president emphasized that the crux of the ECHR ruling is the lack of sufficient efforts by the state to clarify these deaths.”

The European Court has even put forward the hypothesis that the circumstances of one of the protester’s deaths might be attributable to the violent actions of non-peaceful protesters, while also considering this in the context of a deficit in effective investigation. All of this proves that if the circumstances of the deaths are clarified, it becomes evident who specifically violated the right to life and in what circumstances; everything is very clear.

The ECHR ruling makes it evident that since 2018, the state has concealed from the ECHR and the entire public certain facts well-known to all, such as the use of grenades and firearms by protesters, which could relate to the circumstances of the first victim of that day, the captain of police who was killed by a grenade explosion, and the police officer who was killed by gunfire. Unlike previous judgments, it has been directly mentioned that the protests cannot be viewed entirely as peaceful; there were protesters who engaged in acts of violence by throwing stones, Molotov cocktails, and other objects at the police, causing serious damage to public and private property.

It is clear that the state has not provided appropriate protection, which the president clearly stated in the press conference. It is important to note that the ECHR has directly pointed out several times that sufficient information has not been presented to the Court. And without those facts, the ECHR ruling becomes highly questionable and vulnerable and will sooner or later need to be reconsidered. Yes, the state led by Nikol Pashinyan has made no efforts whatsoever to clarify the deaths of March 1 for over 7 years. This is a fact that requires no verification,” Mikoyan stated.