US embassy cable - 03YEREVAN2970

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 002970 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, 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