YEREVAN, MAY 8, ARMENPRESS. The previous government has destroyed classified National Security Service documents on the eve of the 2018 Armenian Velvet Revolution, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a press conference today.

After making the statement, the Prime Minister was asked to elaborate on the matter in parliament.

In response to opposition Lusavor Hayastan party MP Arman Babajanyan’s question, Pashinyan said the destroyed materials concerned a broad circle of persons and events.

The MP asked when has the current government found out about it and why no criminal investigation has been initiated so far. Pashinyan said they’ve discovered the destruction of documents in 2018 summer, few months after coming to power.

“We thought we shouldn’t publicly address this delicate issue, but since questions are addressed to the government that indirectly concern this subject, for example whether or not the National Security Service doesnt know what happened in March 1 [2008] and how, we understand that we should somehow respond to this. And we decided to voice this issue in order for the public to be informed what is happening,” Pashinyan said, adding that it would even be wrong to say that the materials have been destroyed, they are simply “missing”.

He said they must first of all be convinced that they are correctly assessing the situation. And an internal investigation is underway in this direction. He said criminal proceedings are probable.

MP Babajanyan asked if they suspect the missing documents to concern the 2008 March 1 events. “The fact that the documents concern a large scale circle is obvious, both persons and events. In certain cases there are fragments left, and by following them we understand that the material itself is missing,” Pashinyan said, adding that similar cases have been discovered in the process.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan