Rubinyan accuses Kocharyan and Sargsyan of concealing the masterminds of the October 27 terrorist attack

Ruben Rubinyan, vice speaker of Armenia's National Assembly, sharply criticized the country's former presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, holding them responsible for the fact that the masterminds of the October 27, 1999, terrorist attack in parliament have still not been named.

Speaking with journalists, Rubinyan stated that the current authorities have the maximum political will to investigate, but the most favorable time to uncover the organizers was missed precisely during the years of the previous regime's rule, news.am reports.

According to the vice speaker, the key evidence and threads of the crime would have been easiest to gather while the trail was still hot — immediately after the tragedy. However, Kocharyan, who held the post of president at the time, and Sargsyan, who headed the Ministry of National Security, did not do so, despite the fact that the perpetrators were detained immediately. Rubinyan recalled that Kocharyan publicly called this case a matter for a "local police officer," but during the 19 years that Kocharyan and Sargsyan were jointly in power, the masterminds were never identified.

Rubinyan explicitly supported the suspicions of those who consider the many years of inaction by the former leaders to be no accident. He emphasized that as a result of the bloody events of October 27, Kocharyan's power sharply strengthened and became one-man rule, which is why the country's current leadership is more interested than anyone in establishing the truth. As proof that the most complex crimes can be solved when there is a real desire to do so, the vice speaker cited the example of the 20-year-old murder of Vahram Khorkhoruni, which was solved under the current authorities.

Commenting on the silence of former military prosecutor Gagik Jhangiryan, who had promised to tell the truth after his resignation, Rubinyan advised that these complaints be addressed to Jhangiryan himself, and he declined to name specific names of suspects directly, noting that it would be improper on his part.