– What issues have you discussed with the PACE co-rapporteurs John Prescott and Jorge Colombier? What matters were they most interested in? Have the co-rapporteurs expressed an opinion that during the amnesty all the suspects and imprisoned ones of the March 1-2 case should be released?
– There was no conversation about the amnesty. But in this regard I’d like to say that three days ago I hosted the mother of the killed young man Tigran Abgaryan. She was asking me what amnesty we were speaking about. She was saying that she was trembling when hearing those words. We are half-dead. Do you want us completely dead? She was against the amnesty. As of the meeting with co-rapporteurs then I have thoroughly presented the work done. I have told them that we are planning to wrap up the attained materials. It was their wish to make the work of the ad hoc more comprehensive for the society. They asked to be decisive and complete the tasks that I face.
– The ad hoc, which you chair, has functioned for over a year now. To what extent has the ad hoc fulfilled its duties and objectives?
– We initially had three objectives set in front of us – legality and balance between violence and actions of the police, examination of the reasons of death of the killed people and presentation of our recommendations in this regard. Unfortunately, we don’t have sufficient documents related to the circumstances of death. In our full report, however, we will include certain circumstances related to casualties. I cannot clearly mention the actions of which side caused death. The investigative body is in charge of that.
– When will you be presenting the final report? Is it going to be in September after the completion of the operation of the ad hoc or by late July as mentioned by the media?
– The final report will be made after the final materials are wrapped up. We should also adapt it with the period of the NA sessions. We will present it whenever it’s ready and possibly to present.
– What new facts have you found in the report on the use of special means on March 1? It was sent to you by the opposition members of the fact-finding committee.
– I have personally examined this report and presented to the members of the ad hoc. We will discuss it one more time and will decide, which parts of it to include in our report. But as I mentioned it should be discussed and I don’t wish to make any statements without consenting it with the ad hoc members. If someone expresses an opinion at the stage of the examination of materials it may be mistakenly considered as an opinion expressed by the ad hoc. For this reason we have agreed to abstain from expressing any views yet to media.
– In your opinion to what extent was the use of special means relevant on the night of March 1? According to certain opinions the use of the Cheryomukha 7 special weapon can be used only in a closed venue.
– If you remember the ad hoc has been discussing this issue for quite long and I have publicly expressed the following opinion, “according to our information the Cheryomukha 7 is used only in closed venues and since it was used outdoors the one, who was responsible for the order must be punished. But later we received the response of the question from Russian experts, who claimed that its used is not prohibited outdoors.” It means that the use of this weapon is not subject to criminal punishment. The same answer was given by the Russian expertise bureau. This means that the country, which produces this weapon doesn’t forbid its use outdoors. Shall we not believe them? I see that the Fact-Finding group almost went through the same path as us but they didn’t take into account the expertise conclusion.
– The opposition members of the Fact-Finding group also expressed their discontent that Vahe Stepanyan had given to you a 2000-page material of the Fact-Finding group without the awareness of the rest of the group members. They were dubious about the fact that because of that it will be possible to hide certain materials.
– Perhaps, I don’t know. We have opened the safe, put the contents in the vehicle and transported it here. But if the same didn’t have anything else we couldn’t possible get any extra contents. We go through these materials to see what’s necessary.