1999 PARLIAMENTARY ATTACKERS SENTENCED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 002970

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ARMENIA'>AM
SUBJECT: 1999 PARLIAMENTARY ATTACKERS SENTENCED



1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect
accordingly.

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SUMMARY
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2. (SBU) Concluding a nearly three-year trial, a
Yerevan district court handed down six life sentences
and one 14-year prison term December 2 to the
defendants convicted of carrying out the October 1999
National Assembly shooting that killed the Prime
Minister, Parliamentary Speaker and six other political
leaders. Relatives of those killed in the attack,
including opposition leader Stepan Demirchian, charged
that President Kocharian had manipulated the trial
process to prevent the release of potentially
incriminating information about his administration.
Opposition leaders also blasted the government's
failure to seek the death penalty for the assailants,
despite the fact that capital punishment was abolished
in August. END SUMMARY.

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TRIAL FINALLY CONCLUDES
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3. (U) Judge Samvel Uzunian of the Nork Marash District
Court handed down life sentences to six of the seven
defendants convicted of murder and terrorism for their
role in the October 27, 1999 National Assembly
shootings that killed Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsian,
Speaker Karen Demirchian and six others. The accused
mastermind of the plot, Nairi Hunanian, his brother
Karen, and four accomplices received the highest
penalty under ARMENIAn law, with the seventh defendant
receiving a 14-year prison term. The trial lasted for
nearly three years.

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LITTLE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT CONSPIRACY THEORIES
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4. (U) Despite Nairi Hunanian's numerous pronouncements
that he had organized the assassination in an effort to
root out corruption in the government, many ARMENIAns
still believe that a broader conspiracy successfully
eliminated the Sargsian-Demirchian power center.
Though lacking any direct evidence, the victim's
relatives and opposition leaders have variously charged
President Kocharian with manipulating the trial,
covering-up important government information related to
the case, and even direct involvement in the attacks to
increase his own political power. Leader of the
opposition Justice Bloc and son of the late Karen
Demirchian, Stepan Demirchian told the press after the
verdict, "The trial was manipulated right from the
beginning, and the court has carried out an order. The
authorities have done everything to cover up this
crime." Kocharian and his allies have vigorously
denied any involvement in the murders, and the Embassy
has never seen any evidence to the contrary.

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DEATH PENALTY NOT AN OPTION
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5. (U) One controversial element of the sentencing was
the fact that none of the defendants received the death
penalty. (NOTE: Many ARMENIAns had assumed that those
convicted for involvement in National Assembly
shootings would be executed. END NOTE.) In order to
fulfill its Council of Europe membership obligations
the National Assembly formally abolished capital
punishment in September, before the conclusion of the
trial. Demirchian and other opposition leaders had
argued that the ban against the death penalty only
applied in peacetime, and since the attack had been an
act of war, the defendants would still be eligible for
capital punishment.

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COMMENT
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6. (SBU) Although opposition charges leveled against
President Kocharian of complicity in the 1999 events
have never gained traction, the government appears to
hope that the conviction and sentencing of Nairi
Hunanian and his accomplices will finally close the
books on this particular episode in ARMENIAn recent
history.
ORDWAY