Usage of Armed Forces in mass unrest allowed by Armenia’s Constitution: lawyer

Numerous myths have been formed over March 1 developments with one of them being that the Constitution does not allow using Armed Forces in inner-state issues like for instance for preventing mass unrest, lawyer of Armenia’s second president Robert Kocharyan Hayk Alumyan told the reporters today.

“It is a myth and the case examined in court today is mainly based on that myth. In reality our legislation allows using Armed Forces for the solution of important inner-state issues,” he said, presenting the models in South African Republic, India, China.

Alumyan also cited the Article 8.8 of Armenia’s Constitution which says that the Armed Forces ensure the security of the Republic of Armenia, its defense and territorial security.

“What is security? It is an opportunity to defend from domestic and external dangers. The security may be endangered as a result of mass unrest,” the lawyer said.