Washington’s view remains that “there has been a need for a thorough and fair investigation into the events of March 2008,” United States Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills said on Wednesday, commenting on recent developments in the probe concerning deadly post-election violence that took place in Armenia a decade ago.
In late July Armenia’s former president Robert Kocharian was charged with breaching the country’s constitutional order by illegally using the armed forces against opposition supporters who protested against alleged fraud in a disputed presidential election. Eight protesters and two police personnel were killed when security forces broke up those demonstrations on March 1-2, 2008.
Kocharian spent more than two weeks in custody before being released by the Court of Appeals that cited a constitutional provision giving the ex-president immunity from prosecution.
Several other former senior officials, including Colonel-General Yuri Khachaturov, the current head of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, have also been charged in connection with the 2008 events.
These developments appeared to have particularly irked Russia whose foreign minister Sergei Lavrov within a space of just one month twice commented on Armenian internal affairs.
On July 31, Lavrov denounced the prosecutions, arguing that they run counter to the new Armenian leadership’s earlier pledges not to “persecute its predecessors for political motives.” And earlier this week Lavrov repeated his concerns. “Of course, we are worried by the circumstance that the situation in Armenia remains heated, events that happened 10 years ago are being investigated… No doubt, we consider those to be an internal affair of Armenia and wish that internal affairs remain within the framework of law and on the firm basis of the Constitution and be overcome quickly,” the top Russian diplomat said.
In response to the question of RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) whether he considered such comments to be interference in Armenia’s internal affairs, U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills said: “I have seen those comments. It’s for the Armenian government to respond to comments from the Russian government.Our view remains that there has been a need for a thorough and fair investigation into the events of March 2008. And it is important that that investigation be carried out in accordance with the rule of law and Armenian due process.”
Mills talked to media today on the sidelines of a U.S.-Armenian business conference on franchise opportunities.
“We are here today for a very important development in the U.S.-Armenian trade relationship, that is a one-day conference that the embassy is sponsoring to bring together Armenians interested in franchise opportunities with U.S. corporations and businesses. And I think it shows that we believe that there are real opportunities here for U.S. business and for Armenian business to prosper together in the new Armenia,” the U.S. ambassador said.
“This conference today brings together over 50 Armenian government and business people as well as representatives from several major U.S. companies to talk about franchise and business opportunities here. So, as I said, we believe that there are real opportunities for business and trade that will benefit both sides. And we are encouraging the government to continue to work to help improve and develop Armenia’s business climate. The business climate, the investment climate can be fragile. And all it takes is one government mistake, or a bad law, or a bad decision and investors can be scared away. That’s why I hope the government will continue to pay attention to the environment it is creating for business and investment here.”
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