Former Police Chief Hayk Harutyunyan Questioned in March 1 Case

According to the newspaper 'Zhoghovurd', former Police Chief Hayk Harutyunyan has been questioned in relation to the March 1 case. He recounted, "I remember being informed that initially an agreement had been reached with the protest leaders to move the demonstration to the Matenadaran, and the police units were behind, but they refused to move the protest there. At that time, I instructed Sasha Afian to speak with Levon Ter-Petrosyan and convince him to come to the Italian Embassy to calm the people, but I was informed that Levon Ter-Petrosyan refused to come."

Another notable contradiction in the testimony provided by the former police chief is in response to the investigator's question regarding whether former police chief Alik Sargsyan had informed the Special Investigative Service of Armenia that, on March 1, 2008, additional vehicles were requested from the Ministry of Defense at Harutyunyan's request for the operational deployment of police forces. Harutyunyan replied, "I do not remember such an event where I requested vehicles from Mikayel Harutyunyan. I should also note that the police had contracts with individuals for the rental of more than 10 passenger 'Ikarus' buses; there was no need to ask the Ministry of Defense for resources."

For more details, see today’s issue of the newspaper.