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JAILED MAYOR OF ARMENIAN TOWN REELECTED
By Shakeh Avoyan
Armenialiberty.org, Armenia
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 10 2005
The mayor of a small town near Yerevan who was arrested late last
month after reportedly shooting dead a local rival has been reelected
for another three-year term, election officials said on Monday.
Official results of Sunday's election showed Armen Keshishian winning
nearly 50 percent of the vote, against 41.5 percent polled by his
sole challenger for the post of Nor Hajn mayor. It is the first time
that a jailed person wins an election in post-Soviet Armenia.
"It can be said the election in Nor Hajn was the most peaceful in the
entire district," the chairman of the district election commission,
Gnel Ghalumian, told RFE/RL. "I feared something bad might happened,
but everything was alright." He said the commission has not received
any written complaints from the defeated candidate.
Keshishian has been under police custody since a September 24 bitter
argument with the head of the local power distribution network,
Ashot Mkhitarian, which resulted in the latter's death. Witnesses,
among them two police officers, said the incumbent mayor fired several
gunshots at Mkhitarian from an almost point-bank range.
The killing took place in broad daylight at the site of what
law-enforcement authorities call "illegal construction" financed by the
victim. Keshishian was reportedly furious with his failure to obtain
permission for the construction. Keshishian is now facing a lengthy
prison sentence, charged with a "premeditated murder committed in a
way that endangered many peoples' lives."
The two men are said to have fallen out last year, leading Mkhitarian
to back the mayor's election challenger who heads the local branch
of the Yerkrapah Union of the Nagorno-Karabakh war veterans. The
dead man was reputed to be a protege of Armenian "oligarch" Gagik
Tsarukian, while Keshishian was until now close to Prime Minister
Andranik Markarian's Republican Party.
The outcome of the Nor Hajn election may have given Keshishian a
huge moral boost, but it is unlikely to prevent his trial and almost
certain imprisonment. Under Armenian law, criminal suspects can
contest any election before being found guilty by court. And unlike
parliament deputies, heads of local government do not enjoy immunity
from prosecution.
"I have no idea how he is to govern the town until the court verdict,"
said Ghalumian.
It has emerged that the handgun used in the Nor Hajn shooting had
been presented to Keshishian by Markarian. Newspaper reports have
said Markarian's gift pistols have also been used in other crimes.
The embarrassed prime minister assured journalists last week that
the Armenian police will now screen prospective recipients of such
presents "more strictly."
Sunday also saw local elections in 12 other towns and some 270 villages
across Armenia. The polls were effectively boycotted by the opposition.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
By Shakeh Avoyan
Armenialiberty.org, Armenia
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 10 2005
The mayor of a small town near Yerevan who was arrested late last
month after reportedly shooting dead a local rival has been reelected
for another three-year term, election officials said on Monday.
Official results of Sunday's election showed Armen Keshishian winning
nearly 50 percent of the vote, against 41.5 percent polled by his
sole challenger for the post of Nor Hajn mayor. It is the first time
that a jailed person wins an election in post-Soviet Armenia.
"It can be said the election in Nor Hajn was the most peaceful in the
entire district," the chairman of the district election commission,
Gnel Ghalumian, told RFE/RL. "I feared something bad might happened,
but everything was alright." He said the commission has not received
any written complaints from the defeated candidate.
Keshishian has been under police custody since a September 24 bitter
argument with the head of the local power distribution network,
Ashot Mkhitarian, which resulted in the latter's death. Witnesses,
among them two police officers, said the incumbent mayor fired several
gunshots at Mkhitarian from an almost point-bank range.
The killing took place in broad daylight at the site of what
law-enforcement authorities call "illegal construction" financed by the
victim. Keshishian was reportedly furious with his failure to obtain
permission for the construction. Keshishian is now facing a lengthy
prison sentence, charged with a "premeditated murder committed in a
way that endangered many peoples' lives."
The two men are said to have fallen out last year, leading Mkhitarian
to back the mayor's election challenger who heads the local branch
of the Yerkrapah Union of the Nagorno-Karabakh war veterans. The
dead man was reputed to be a protege of Armenian "oligarch" Gagik
Tsarukian, while Keshishian was until now close to Prime Minister
Andranik Markarian's Republican Party.
The outcome of the Nor Hajn election may have given Keshishian a
huge moral boost, but it is unlikely to prevent his trial and almost
certain imprisonment. Under Armenian law, criminal suspects can
contest any election before being found guilty by court. And unlike
parliament deputies, heads of local government do not enjoy immunity
from prosecution.
"I have no idea how he is to govern the town until the court verdict,"
said Ghalumian.
It has emerged that the handgun used in the Nor Hajn shooting had
been presented to Keshishian by Markarian. Newspaper reports have
said Markarian's gift pistols have also been used in other crimes.
The embarrassed prime minister assured journalists last week that
the Armenian police will now screen prospective recipients of such
presents "more strictly."
Sunday also saw local elections in 12 other towns and some 270 villages
across Armenia. The polls were effectively boycotted by the opposition.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress