Anti-Corruption Committee chairman Arthur Nahapetyan says the proceedings concern 10 people, while the preliminary investigation continues for another 11 defendants.
Armenia has sent 5 proceedings separated from its main investigation into the 1–2 March 2008 unrest to court with indictments, Anti-Corruption Committee chairman Arthur Nahapetyan said. The referrals concern 10 people; the preliminary investigation continues concerning another 11 defendants.
The investigation concerns violence that followed a disputed presidential election. On 1 March 2008, clashes between demonstrators and security forces in Yerevan killed 10 people, including two police officers.
Nahapetyan told Armenpress that evidence obtained in the investigation had also led to charges against several former high-ranking officials. He did not identify the people in the aggregate account or specify their individual charges or charge dates.
Former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan rallied supporters against the February 2008 presidential election he described as rigged, after Serzh Sargsyan was declared president-elect. Police dismantled a protest camp in Yerevan’s Freedom Square on 1 March, followed by hours of clashes near the Myasnikyan monument. The violence occurred in the final days of Robert Kocharyan’s presidency.
In its judgment in Farmanyan and Others v. Armenia, published on 18 September 2025, the European Court of Human Rights found that Armenia had violated the right to life under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights in the cases of seven of nine victims. The court could not definitively establish responsibility for the deaths of Samvel Harutyunyan and Zakar Hovhannisyan, but found that authorities had failed to investigate all nine deaths effectively.
The court separately found that Armenia had breached Article 38 of the convention by failing to provide crucial documents despite repeated requests. It ordered Armenia to pay each applicant €30,000 in non-pecuniary damages and €35,000 (about $39,000) jointly for legal costs.
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Nahapetyan said an investigative group was formed after the judgment and carried out extensive evidence-gathering and other procedural work. He pledged that the committee would continue toward a comprehensive and impartial investigation and a legal assessment of all circumstances.
He said the state was responsible for establishing the circumstances of violence against peaceful demonstrators, working to restore violated rights and assessing what happened. His announcement gave no hearing dates or investigative deadlines.
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