The Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia Anna Vardapetyan today presented to the National Assembly of the RA the investigation conducted by the preliminary investigation bodies for the events that took place in Yerevan on March 1–2, 2008, as well as the actions taken by the Prosecutor’s Office within the framework of the defense of the prosecution, the protection of state interests and other functions, including the exclusive powers of the Prosecutor General of the RA.

It should be recalled that Prosecutor General of the RA Anna Vardapetyan, in accordance with the constitutional law “Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly,” today submitted to the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs of the National Assembly of the RA the report on the activities of the Prosecutor’s Office of the RA for 2025, which was submitted to the National Assembly of the RA on March 31, 2026 and published on the official website of the Prosecutor’s Office.

Anna Vardapetyan, in particular, stated:

“1. By the decision of the Prosecutor General dated August 11, 2025, the decision of the investigator of the Special Investigative Service dated January 30, 2020, on terminating the public criminal prosecution initiated under Article 38-309(2) of the former Criminal Code against S.A., who, as of March 1, 2008, held the position of Deputy Chief of Police of the Republic of Armenia, on the grounds of expiration of the statute of limitations, as well as the procedural act of the supervising prosecutor approving it, was revoked, taking into account that the act attributed to S.A. constitutes ill-treatment, equated to torture, and therefore the public criminal prosecution initiated against him could not have been terminated due to the existence of a legislative prohibition on the application of statutes of limitation”.

On December 25, 2025, a decision was made to initiate a new public criminal prosecution against Sasha Afyan, and on the same day he was formally charged under Article 38-309(2) of the former Criminal Code (corresponding to points 1 and 3 of Article 46-441(2) of the Criminal Code) for an act punishable by law and committed with guilt, namely that, on March 1, 2008, exceeding his official powers and in complicity with other senior police officials, he organized the dispersal of a peaceful rally held at Freedom Square in Yerevan by police units using violence and special means, the forcible removal of protesters from the square through violence, and subsequently the prevention of gatherings, possible protests and assemblies in the central parts of the city, whereby substantial damage was caused to the rights and lawful interests of individuals, as well as to the lawful interests of society and the state.

On December 26, 2025, the authority conducting the proceedings decided to separate from the criminal case the proceedings concerning accused S.A. (charged under Article 38-309(2) of the former Criminal Code), and to assign a separate case number to the severed proceedings. The criminal case was sent to court with an approved indictment.

2. On November 24, 2025, the public prosecutor submitted to the court the decisions on the new indictments concerning Robert Kocharyan, Armen Gevorgyan, Seyran Ohanyan, Yuri Khachaturov and Armen Gevorgyan.

On January 16, 2026, the judge of the Anti-Corruption Court approved the decisions on the new indictments concerning R.K., S.O., Yu.Kh. and A.G.

3. On August 11, 2025, the Prosecutor General’s Office filed a claim with the Anti-Corruption Court against Robert Kocharyan, Armen Gevorgyan, Seyran Ohanyan and Yuri Khachaturov, demanding the joint and several recovery of AMD 670 million, as a recourse claim for amounts compensated by the Republic of Armenia.

At the same time, the Prosecutor General’s Office filed a motion for securing the claim, requesting that assets belonging to Robert Kocharyan, Armen Gevorgyan, Seyran Ohanyan and Yuri Khachaturov be frozen in the amount of AMD 670 million, corresponding to the claim value.

By the decision of the Anti-Corruption Court dated August 13, 2025, the claim was accepted for proceedings, and the motion for interim measures was granted.

4. On March 6, 2026, the prosecutor submitted to the court, with an approved indictment, the files of the criminal proceedings concerning the defendants in the March 1 case: Robert Melkonyan, who in 2008 held the position of Commander of the Patrol-Guard Service Regiment of the Police of Yerevan City Department of the Republic of Armenia, his deputy Valeriy Osipyan, and Karen Movsisyan, who held the position of company commander of the same regiment.

With the aim of obstructing the peaceful demonstration held at Freedom Square and preventing the holding of assemblies at the same square, on March 1, 2008, at around 06:30, under an evidently unlawful order of the Chief of Police of the RA, police officers of the Republic of Armenia, including personnel of the Patrol-Guard Service Regiment of the Yerevan City Department, under the organization and command of Regiment Commander Robert Melkonyan, his deputy Valeriy Osipyan, company commanders of the Patrol-Guard Service Regiment, as well as Sasha Afyan, who held the position of Deputy Chief of Police of the Republic of Armenia, in the absence of any legal grounds provided for by the Law “On Police” for the use of physical force and special means, exceeded their powers and, through the unlawful use of violence and special means, dispersed the sit-in protest, forcibly removing hundreds of peaceful demonstrators from Freedom Square, including those sleeping in tents set up for overnight stay.

5. On March 3, 2026, the prosecutor submitted to the court, with an approved indictment, the files of the criminal proceedings concerning another defendant in the March 1 case — Hovhannes Tamamyan, who in 2008 held the position of First Deputy Head of the Criminal Investigation General Department of the Police of the Republic of Armenia. In the course of the criminal proceedings under investigation by the Investigative Committee, it was established that Hovhannes Tamamyan, without any justification, on the early morning of March 1, 2008, instructed police officers of the Republic of Armenia to beat E.A., a participant in the public rally held at Freedom Square in Yerevan, and to transfer him to the Main Department for Combating Organized Crime of the Police of the Republic of Armenia.

The Prosecutor General, referring to the issue of applying statutes of limitation in cases where an official exceeds their powers accompanied by violence, stated: “From the finding made in paragraph 47 of the decision of the Court of Cassation dated December 22, 2023, it follows that, at least since the RA Criminal Code that entered into force on August 1, 2003, there has been a legislative prohibition on the application of statutes of limitation in cases of torture or treatment equivalent thereto, including in cases where an official exceeds their authority accompanied by violence.”

The positions formed in the judgments rendered in the cases “Farmanyan and Others v. Armenia”, “Mushegh Saghatelyan v. Armenia”, “Myasnik Malkhasyan v. Armenia”, “Dareksizb LLC v. Armenia”, and “Virabyan v. Armenia” provide grounds to express the view that the Court’s conclusions regarding the criminal-legal assessment of the events that took place in Yerevan on the night of March 1–2 are connected to the excess of authority by officials accompanied by violence, in respect of which there exists a legislative prohibition on the application of statutes of limitation.