RA Prosecutor General`s Office  initiates  criminal case against the  late former NSS director

ArmInfo. The Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia has initiated a criminal case against the late former director of the National Security Service (NSS) of the  Republic, Gorik Hakobyan, and four other agency employees regarding  the events of March 1, 2008.

As reported to ArmInfo by the press service of the Prosecutor  General's Office of Armenia, the case was initiated on charges of  "committing official forgery, as well as organizing official forgery  by subordinates." "As part of the case, evidence was obtained that on  March 1, 2008, Gorik Hakobyan, in the absence of grounds, backdated a  secret letter, which was a false document, stating that "the rallies  and marches of the first president of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan,  and his associates in Freedom Square in Yerevan are aimed at  destabilizing the situation in Yerevan. In addition, protesters will  be given firearms, explosives, and batons that could be used during  possible provocative and illegal actions," the Prosecutor General's  Office reported, adding that criminal proceedings have also been  initiated against other individuals within the scope of this  investigation. 

It is worth noting that the case was opened after Armenia's second  president, Robert Kocharyan, announced on June 4, 2026, that Armenian  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had been found guilty and convicted in  three Armenian courts for the events of March 1, 2008, but was then  acquitted under strange circumstances by a decision of the European  Court of Human Rights (ECHR). This was Kocharyan's response to the  Armenian prime minister's accusations against him regarding the  events of March 1, 2008.

Recall, on March 1, 2008, following the regular presidential  elections held on February 19, which were won by Serzh Sargsyan,  riots broke out in Yerevan, culminating in clashes with law  enforcement officials.  The Armenian opposition, led by the first  president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who also ran in the elections, held  rallies in the center of Yerevan from February 20, expressing  dissatisfaction with the results of the vote. The protests culminated  in riots and clashes between protesters and law enforcement forces on  March 1-2, resulting in the deaths of 10 people, including police  officers, and over 200 injuries of varying severity.  On August 17,  2018, Nikol Pashinyan announced that the case of the events of March  1-2, 2008, in Yerevan had been fully resolved. However, to date, none  of the responsible persons have been appropriately punished for that  crime. The investigation into the case is still ongoing. The second  president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, and several high-ranking  officials of that time are being charged with overthrowing the  constitutional order.  It should be added that at that time,  Pashinyan was an active supporter of the first president of Armenia,  Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who de jure lost the election, but he claimed  that the election results were falsified.  After the events of March  1, 2008, Pashinyan was convicted of organizing mass riots and  sentenced to seven years in prison, but was released after serving  two years.