Print this page
Tuesday, 02 December 2003

ARMENIA SENTENCES SIX FOR MURDERS IN PARLIAMENT

Published in News Digest

By empty (12/2/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Armenia sentenced six men to life imprisonment on Tuesday for their roles in breaking into the former Soviet state\'s parliament in 1999 and gunning down the prime minister, the chamber\'s speaker and other officials. A regional court handed down the sentences more than four years after Armenia buried the officials, some of whom were said to be more influential than the president himself. A seventh man, accused of being the killers\' driver after being caught with weapons in his car outside parliament, was sentenced to 14 years.
Armenia sentenced six men to life imprisonment on Tuesday for their roles in breaking into the former Soviet state\'s parliament in 1999 and gunning down the prime minister, the chamber\'s speaker and other officials. A regional court handed down the sentences more than four years after Armenia buried the officials, some of whom were said to be more influential than the president himself. A seventh man, accused of being the killers\' driver after being caught with weapons in his car outside parliament, was sentenced to 14 years. The men could appeal their sentences. The gunmen were led by Nairi Unanyan, a former member of the nationalist Dashnak party. He had expressed hopes of staging a coup in the Caucasus country of 3.8 million, accusing the leadership of misleading the nation. Shortly afterwards Armenian President Robert Kocharyan moved to consolidate power by firing top ministers amid fears of plots against him. (Reuters)
Read 2117 times