Two former officials indicted in March 1 probe

PanARMENIAN.Net - Criminal charges have been brought against two more former officials, Valeri Osipyan and Robert Melkonyan, as part of the “March 1” case, Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Committee said, according to Sputnik Armenia.

“Charges have been filed against individuals who at the time served as commander of the Yerevan City Police Patrol Service Regiment and his deputy for organizing the dispersal of peaceful demonstrators holding a sit-in at Freedom Square on March 1, 2008, through the use of violence and special measures by various police units,” the committee said.

From February 20, 2008, Armenia’s opposition, led by the country’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, organized protests in central Yerevan against the results of the presidential election. The events of March 1 escalated into mass unrest. As a result, 10 people were killed and more than 200 were injured. After Nikol Pashinyan came to power, charges in the “March 1” case were brought against Armenia’s second president, Robert Kocharyan, and several other former officials.

In August 2025, it became known that former deputy police chief Sasha Afyan had again been granted suspect status in the “March 1” case.