Sefilian said afterwards that the authorities are thus trying to discredit him and his National Democratic Alliance (AZhB).
Five gunmen had burst into the National Assembly and sprayed it with bullets on October 27, 1999, killing its speaker Karen Demirchian, Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian and six other officials. The gunmen led by an obscure former journalist, Nairi Hunanian, surrendered to police after overnight negotiations with then President Robert Kocharian. They were subsequently tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. Hunanian insisted during his and his henchmen’s marathon trial that he himself had decided to seize the parliament without anybody's orders.
Nevertheless, some relatives and supporters of the assassinated officials still suspect Kocharian and his successor President Serzh Sarkisian (no relation to Vazgen), who was Armenia’s national security minister in October 1999, of masterminding the killings to eliminate powerful rivals. Both men have repeatedly dismissed such suggestions.
In 2004, investigators formally stopped looking for other individuals possibly involved in the attack, citing a lack of evidence. Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General overturned that decision a year after the 2018 “velvet revolution.” Nobody has been arrested or charged in that renewed investigation.
Sefilian was interrogated as a witness in connection with an interview given by Samvel Babayan, a former commander of Nagorno-Karabakh’s army, over two months ago. Babayan, who is believed to be loyal to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, claimed that Sefilian phoned him right after the 1999 killings to welcome Vazgen Sarkisian’s assassination and say that the gunmen want to negotiate with Babayan.
Andranik Kocharian, a senior pro-government lawmaker, asked Prosecutor-General Anna Vardapetian about Babayan’s interview and suggested that the investigators question Sefilian when she appeared before the parliament on May 8. Sefilian was summoned to the Investigative Committee four days later.
Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service later on Monday, the AZhB leader confirmed phoning Babayan on October 27, 1999 but strongly denied the statements attributed to him by the former Karabakh strongman.
“Andranik Kocharian doesn’t even know that I was already interrogated 25 years ago,” said Sefilian said, accusing the lawmaker and Babayan of trying to tarnish his reputation.
Sefilian’s AZhB has grown increasingly critical of Pashinian in the last several years. Just like Armenia’s mainstream opposition parties, the fringe group participated in last year’s massive anti-government protests sparked by Pashinian’ controversial decision to cede disputed border areas to Azerbaijan.
