The monument commemorating the victims of March 1 was opened in Yerevan.  The author of the sculpture is Albert Vardanyan, it is called “Influence and Counteraction”.  At the opening ceremony, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced:

 “March 1 is not a day of mourning. Of course we mourn the fact of the victims, commemorate their memory, but March 1 has a wider context. The struggle for life of our brothers who died that day is about something else entirely. The struggle and sacrifices of March 1 have reached their destination, because today falsifying elections in RA has already turned a page from which there will be no return, and it’s guarantor is the RA people,” said Nikol Pashinyan.

 After the presidential elections held in Armenia on February 19, 2008, mass protests began in the country. The protests were led by Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the first president of RA.  he and his supporters did not agree with the results of the elections, according to which Serzh Sargsyan was elected president.  Demonstrators set up tents in Yerevan’s Freedom Square and held marches and actions in different parts of the capital. On March 1, 2008, mass riots and clashes between protesters and the police took place, resulting in the death of 10 people. 2 of the victims were police officers.

 Photo by Photolure.