Before issuing their interim report it would be enough for the temporary NA committee on the investigation of March 1 events to watch the 25-minute video, which was showed on September 10 by the opposition working group on the examination of the tragic events. That video clearly highlights in red the scenes where the police opens fire in the direction of the innocent protesters.
These scenes, which the opposition shows in a coordinated way in a single video, were placed on various websites. And if not all the average citizens are able to have access to internet the members of the committee could definitely check it online. “The presented video is not sensational at all. The scenes showed there are known to everyone and there is no need to look for any sensations,” on September 10 said Souren Abrahamyan, the former minister of internal affairs, head of the opposition committee on the activities of the law enforcers on March 1. The video starts with the public speech of the first president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan held in Armenia Marriott Hotel on September 21, 2007, where he states, “It is possible to eradicate this corruption structure, it is possible to recover the rule of law in Armenia. It is possible to make the judicial system function due to its authority and in a fair manner instead of serving certain mafia circles in the country.” Afterwards, they show the scenes, in which the police on October 23 headed by deputy chief of police Alexander Afyan cruelly beat the supporters of Ter-Petrosyan, who were trying to stick leaflets on the walls prior to the big rally on October 26. Several police officers would attack these people in different places, attack the supporters, beat them on the ground and pull them to their cars. Several others would even use tear-causing gas on the protesters. According to the video the government was initiating provocation starting from October 23. After that the video shows the rally of October 26 held in the Liberty Square, where Ter-Petrosyan announces that the pressure on his supporters on part of the government and police make his decision of nomination immediate. Afterwards they show various scenes from other rallies and marches. The next collision, which was stirred between the government and opposition, was in Artashat. Later they show scenes, which occurred on the day of presidential elections on February 19. Some of Ter-Petrosyan’s proxies were treated violently at the precincts and they even were injured. The proxies tell how the government was trying to stuff ballots. The video also shows scenes from peaceful rallies, which started starting from February 20 and lasted 10 days. After that the tragic events of March 1 start. According to the video the police intruded into the Liberty Square to search and attack people at 6:20 a.m. The scenes showed in the video were filmed at 6:53 a.m. At that time the sun hasn’t risen yet. The police implacably beats the people with rubber batons. But it’s not over yet. The police keeps following the people, who would succeed escaping from the Square. There as well the police in a group attacks innocent people. Afterward, they start to attack the people, who would run near Armenia Marriott Hotel and Congress Hotel. There are also segments, which show how the police throws all kind of items on the people. At that moment the time on the Republic Square clock showed 7:15 a.m. Meanwhile the Liberty Square was being “cleaned out.” The scenes also show the ruined square, policemen and the cleaners. One of the scenes shows Levon Ter-Petrosyan seated on one of the benches (they say the filming was done at 8:20 a.m.). There are also policemen, who are searching something in the square. Later the video shows how a policeman approaches another one and shows a pistol to be registered. The tents are being cleaned out from the square and moved to the garbage truck. Later the video continues with the events, which took place on Mashtots Avenue. They beat everyone and even women. A male voice is heard, “women are being beaten.” But no one pays attention to that and the police officers keep pulling away women. Many others are pulled to the police trucks. Later the video shows how the policemen are being moved in buses to the center of Yerevan. Among those buses there were plate numbers from the ministry of defense and other buses with troops inside. Later the video shows how a young men not in a police uniform arms himself with weapons in front of the policemen. Later you see scenes how people are moved to the direction of the French embassy. After a short time the area near the embassy was full of people. A little later started the second wave of violence. The ambulance vans approach to hospitalize the ones, who suffered from the police batons. After that people start to build barricades with trolley-buses. The government building is completely surrounded by the police and military troops. Judging from the video by the time the armor trucks approached downtown Yerevan it was already dark. In the evening the masked and armed people run from Mashtots avenue to Proshyan street. At that moment the rally continues near Myasnikyan’s statue. Gunshots are heard, however according to the video the shots were directed in the air at that time. Later they show the intersection of Mashtots-Paronyan, where because of the bomb explosion Hamlet Tadevosyan dies. Later the water splash vehicles appear and policemen start to directly shoot at people. Then we see scenes where some guys were holding their heads and were gathering near the tunnel of Mashtots market. Up on the walls we see bottles of beer (presumably gasoline inside). At the beginning the red circle shows that the wall behind these guys is clean; a little latter a bloody wall is showed. At 10:22 p.m. the body of one of the victims is moved by a truck from Paronyan street. At 11:23 p.m. people show the shot bullets. Later the scenes show for quite a long time the bloody streets of Yerevan, the burning cars and the unrecognizable face of a young men injured because of the gun.