Today marks the 20th anniversary of the October 27 terrorist attack. On this day in 1999, during a regular session of the National Assembly, armed individuals led by Nairi Hunanyan burst into the session hall and opened fire. Killed by their gunfire were National Assembly Speaker Karen Demirchyan, Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, Deputy Speakers of the National Assembly Ruben Miroyan and Yuri Bakhshyan, Minister Leonard Petrosyan, and deputies Armenak Armenakyan, Henrik Abrahamyan and Mikael Kotanyan.
Subsequently, Nairi Hunanyan gave testimony and declared that he had had terrorist plans at the state level in 1991, but had been unable to carry them out due to circumstances. The verdict in the October 27 case was announced in 2003. By the court’s decision, six of the defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment and one to 14 years’ imprisonment.
Despite the arrest of the armed individuals and the judicial verdicts issued against them, the October 27 case has still not been fully uncovered.
That murder, which stands as a shocking event in the modern history of newly independent Armenia and the Armenian people, continues to this day to remain a “heavy burden” on the shoulders of all Armenians.
That slaughter beheaded the leading thought and fighting spirit of the Armenians of our times, and many of the public figures of Armenia and the diaspora active in those days bear witness to this.
