YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian National Congress (ANC) has made a statement on the process of punishing all those guilty of the disclosure of the 2008 March 1 events. ANC Coordinator Levon Zurabian publicized the statement at an August 21 press conference. "The 2008 March 1 crime of the regime against its own people, peaceful demonstrants' slaughter was followed by Armenian society's and international community's, in particular, Council of Europe's demand to create a committee of an independent body to investigate the events. It was considered as a pivotal demand as everybody understands that the political crisis cannot be overcome in Armenia without making clear the circumstances of the March 1 slaughter and punishing those guilty," the ANC statement read. According to the statement, in spite of the authorities' attempts to fail fact-finding committee's work, the NA Ad-hoc Committee received 3 reports from the fact-finding committee with flashy revelations. "However the Ad-hoc Committee violating elementary rules and commitments proceeding from the very mission declared by it, has not made these proved, argumented reports a subject of public and detailed discussion so far. Moreover, the committee members violating the principle of impartiality before publication of the final conclusion already make political statements and qualifications, which serve official versions of the authorities. Such a conduct of the Ad-hoc Committee is one more proof that indeed it is a committee of slurring over the March 1 crimes, the only goal of which is to serve the acting robber regime and to implement of the order of justifying hundreds of violations of human rights and democracy norms. All political forces included in the NA Ad-hoc Committee with their humiliating role in essence finally and totally become an accomplice to the March 1 crime and bear equal responsibility. It can be already surely said that the report of the NA Ad-hoc Committee to be published in September is a fiction, it will be written by disregarding the current factual material, according to our information, even not in this committee but at executive power's cabinets," the ANC statement read. Under the circumstances the Armenian National Congress calls the fact-finding committee for continuing its fact-finding activity as, according to the statement, today after publication of its three reports it has been established as the only instance of disclosure of facts and the truth, enjoys confidence of society, as well as of the international community. According to L. Zurabian, the authorities got afraid of the three reports presented, therefore the President ordered to dissolve the fact-finding committee. The authorities declare that disclosure of March 1 is the affair of the investigation body. However, indeed, according to L. Zurabian, the investigation body slurs over the case.

---