15th anniversary of terrorist act in Armenian parliament
Today marks the 15th anniversary of the terror attack that took place in the Armenian National Assembly.
On October 27, 1999, a group of five terrorists broke into the parliament hall and killed Armenian MPs and government members: parliament speaker Karen Demirchyan, Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, vice speakers of parliament Yuri Bakhshyan and Ruben Miroyan, MPs Michael Kotanyan, Armenak Armenakyan, Henrik Abramyan and Leonard Petrosyan.
The terrorist attack was viewed as unprecedented and one of the most controversial events in Armenian history since independence. The detainees were sentenced to life imprisonment; one of them, Hamlet Stepanyan died in custody in 2010.