Remembering the protestors who died as a result of police violence during the 2008 protests in Armenia
‘After Armen’s death, we planted two trees for him in the garden – they are big now … and we still don’t know what really happened to Armen and why. I would like the Court to help us to find out whose fault it was that Armen died.’
Vachagan Farmanyan, applicant, speaking in 2018.
Since 2008, the families of nine men who died as a result of the violent dispersal by police of a peaceful protest have been seeking justice.
Today, fourteen years after they first took their case to the European Court of Human Rights, the ECtHR found that Armenia violated the right to life and failed to provide the relevant evidence to the Court.
In 2018, we shared the thoughts of some of the applicants in this case, as they recalled their sons and husbands, and the events of 2008.
‘Our son (Gor Kalyan) was a young and engaged person. That’s why he took part in the protests on Freedom Square following the 2008 Presidential elections in Armenia. I went with him. The rallies were peaceful. We listened to speeches.’
Sargis Kloyan, applicant
‘Gor and I were not in Freedom Square when the protesters were forcibly dispersed on the morning of 1 March 2008. Later that evening, around 8.30-9pm I was with Gor in the rally near the French Embassy.’
‘The armed police… tried to provoke the protesters by banging their shields with their batons. They… approached us and surrounded us in a blockade. I saw and heard tracer bullets. They were shooting for about 10 minutes. I estimate and felt that the police forces were shooting about 5 metres above our heads.’
‘At around 9pm, I was on the balcony at our home and I could see and hear tracer bullets. They looked like fireworks. I could hear what I thought was machine gun fire. I tried to telephone (my husband) Hovhannes but he didn’t pick up.’
Liliya Minasyan, applicant
Worried, Liliya and the couple’s daughter Gayane went to look for Hovhannes.
‘For about 10 minutes, Gayane and I stood by the statue in Shahumyan Square to look for Hovhannes. We didn’t want to join the protest. We just wanted to find Hovhannes. I didn’t want to lose him.’
They did not find Hovhannes.
‘I kept calling the hospitals for two days … On 3 March 2008, I heard Hovhannes’ name on the television as being one of the deceased.
‘When he died, Gayane (who was 17 at the time) took over her father’s role and responsibilities. When we cross the road, she holds my hand because Hovhannes would hold my hand.’
Tigran Harutunyan, a police conscript, died over a month later, on his nineteenth birthday, from the injuries he sustained as a result of the police dispersal operation.
‘I have been given different stories about what happened to the bullet that shot Tigran. It’s all very confusing.
(At the hospital) ‘I was told that he had been shot, but that they couldn’t find the bullet. Other doctors also told me that they hadn’t been able to remove the bullet from Tigran’s body. At the Parliamentary Commission, I was told that the bullet was fired by either a sniper or a machine gun, but they didn’t tell me which one it was. I don’t know what to believe.’
Ruzanna Harutunyan, applicant
