Rejected: Court of Appeal dismisses action by 03/08 victims’ families

Armenia’s Criminal Court of Appeal on Tuesday dismissed the actions of the legal successors of Tigran Khachatryan, Armen Farmanyan and Gor Kloyan, killed in the March 1, 2008 post-election clashes after being hit by tear gas capsules presumably fired by riot police. The victims’ parents appealed the verdict by the Kentron and Nork-Marash Court of General Jurisdiction, which a month ago dismissed the victims’ actions, according to which they accused the Special Investigation Service of inappropriate investigation of the murder circumstances.

The judicial process was launched on April 16, however, from the very beginning the victims’ parents were sure that all the judicial instances of the Republic of Armenia would dismiss their actions.

“It was clear from the very beginning, because the courts [in Armenia] are part of the same criminal chain; however, we needed to use all the local instances in order to be able to appeal to the European Court [of Human Rights]. We had no hope here [Armenia] long ago,” Alla Hovhannisyan, mother of the March 1 victim, 23-year-old Tigran Khachatryan, told ArmeniaNow.

The general jurisdiction and appeal courts, basing on the assertion of the prosecution (appearing as the defendant in this case) that the preliminary investigation is still in process and that it is not inactive, considered the victims’ parents’ appeal to be baseless.

Prosecutor Harutyun Harutyunyan wonders how the victims’ legal successors insist that the Special Investigation Service showed inaction in the killings probe, if no one is familiar with the cases yet.

“The case is still in the process of evidences investigation. And I cannot understand how it is possible to insist that nothing has been done. How do they know?” Harutyunyan told ArmeniaNow.

Meanwhile, Sargis Kloyan (the father of 28-year-old victim Gor Kloyan) confronts this question by saying that the process of those evidences investigation could not have lasted for two years in the case when it is already clear which police officers used the special tear gas device called Cheryomukha-7 .

Last year the prosecutor’s office stated that it had revealed four law-enforcers who had applied that special device, as a result of which three young people were killed; however, it is already two years that it was not possible to find out which police officer’s capsule killed the victims.

“The place where our children [sons] died is found out, so it is not difficult at all to figure out which police officer was serving in that territory that day. Besides, it is not difficult to find out who has ordered the use of that old and banned device,” Kloyan told ArmeniaNow, adding that everything is much easier and that if there were a wish, those cases would have been revealed long ago.

Source Publication:
Source: http://www.armenianow.com/social/human_rights/24153/march_1_election_clashes_yerevan_investigation_cheryomukha7_victims

Name:

Invalid value

Comments:

Invalid value

Submit