"Zhoghovurd" daily writes:
"Yesterday, the RA Investigative Committee released a message that a new criminal prosecution has been initiated against one of the former prominent figures, Hovhannes Tamamyan, the first deputy head of the main department of criminal investigation of the police, in connection with the events of March 1, 2008.
According to the factual data obtained within the framework of the proceedings examined in the main department of investigation of especially important cases, the first deputy head of the main department of criminal investigation of the RA Police, H.T., in the early morning of March 1, 2008, without justification, ordered the police officers to use violence against E.A., a participant of the rally in Yerevan's Freedom Square, and to transfer him to the main department of fighting organized crime of the police.
According to the report, the police officers, clearly acting beyond their scope of authority, hit E.A. with hands and feet many times, causing life-threatening serious damage.
On the basis of the obtained data, a public criminal prosecution was initiated against H.T., under Article 38-309, Part 3 of the Criminal Code of 2003 (inciting to transfer official powers). On February 25, 2026, he was arrested to be brought to court.
The investigation is ongoing. It is not clear from the message who EA is, who are the police officers who have exceeded their powers and who have admitted that they beat a person.
This criminal proceeding is remarkable to the extent that within the scope of the "March 1" case of 2008, there was a criminal proceeding initiated in the RA Anti-Corruption Committee, and the Zhoghovurd daily wrote that as early as 2021, a decision was made to stop the criminal prosecution against the same Hovhannes Tamamyan, the deputy head of the main department of criminal investigation of the police, on the basis of the expiration of the statute of limitations.
In the framework of the same case, the names of a number of high-ranking police officers were previously published, some of whom also admitted their guilt, and the cases against them were terminated on the basis of statute of limitations. If the criminal prosecution against a number of officials in cases related to the same period was stopped on the basis of statute of limitations, then 18 years later, new active steps within the framework of the same events raise questions, no matter how much the accusation of torture is made.
There are already assessments in the public field that the process may have a political connotation, being considered as a propaganda or restraining tool implemented by Nikol Pashinyan during the pre-election period.
