YEREVAN (Armenpress/Panorama.am) — Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan have visited the memorial to the victims of the 1999 parliament shooting to pay tribute to the memory of the victims on the 27th anniversary of the terror attack.
On October 27, 1999, a group of five heavily armed led by Nairi Hunanyan burst into parliament, killing Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, Speaker Karen Demirchyan, Deputy Speakers Yuri Bakhshyan and Ruben Miroyan, as well as three lawmakers and a Cabinet member. The gunmen held the remaining MPs hostage until surrendering to authorities the next day. The perpetrators were sentenced to life imprisonment.
There have since been many theories on possible masterminds or accomplices, including possible foreign involvement behind the attack. An investigation was reopened in 2019.
Earlier this year, Armenia’s top prosecutor said that the reopened investigation was in “active phase”.
Republic Party leader Aram Sargsyan claims that the 1999 parliament shooting cannot be considered solved until possible foreign involvement is fully investigated.
“Of course, October 27 has not been revealed,” Sargsyan, the brother of slain Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, told reporters after laying flowers at the memorial to the victims outside the National Assembly on Monday.
