Former Defense Minister Davit Tonyan has issued a statement noting that he rules out his participation in the work of the National Assembly’s investigative committee. Tonyan also proposes holding an open, public session of the investigative committee with his and Nikol Pashinyan’s participation.
We present the statement in full below:
“Taking into account the statement of the chairman of the NA Investigative Committee (IC) (Andranik Kocharyan – ed.) regarding the ‘reservation’ concerning my participation in the committee’s work, as well as the numerous questions received from the media, I present my approaches regarding the IC’s activities and my participation:
Under conditions where my rights and freedoms are restricted by absurd accusations, I rule out, both personally and legally, my participation in the work of the NA IC.
The most important of the reasons is that the information regarding the 44-day military operations, as well as that preceding and following them, is classified, and I cannot have access to it due to my unjustified and illegal detention.
In order to answer the committee’s questions with accurate and complete facts, it is necessary to have full access to the aforementioned information, which is not available to me, since since November 20, 2020 I have had no connection with the activities of the Ministry of Defense, and I have also been isolated for about 1 year and 7 months under a fabricated criminal case.
A ban has also been placed on my direct communication with the media, thus even my ability to respond to the public’s questions through journalists within the limits of what is permissible has been restricted.
The absence of independent experts and representatives of the NA opposition factions at the IC sessions not only raises questions regarding the impartiality of its work, but also serves as fertile ground for the continuation of political speculation, slander and dilettantish gossip.
Finally, the person chairing the IC cannot be impartial in his assessments, given his irresponsible statements made after November 9, 2020 regarding me and the Armed Forces, to which the Ministry of Defense had partially responded on November 17, 2020 and November 19, 2020.
In January 2021, in an interview given to ‘Mediamax’, I addressed questions related to the 44-day war within the limits of what is permissible. As I said in my message of November 20, 2020, I am ready to bear my share of responsibility. Therefore, I propose holding an open, public session of the Investigative Committee with my and Nikol Pashinyan’s participation, during which we will answer all questions of interest to the public,” the statement said.
