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HIGH COURT REFUSES TO RELEASE 'COUP PLOTTERS'
By Astghik Bedevian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Dec 27 2006
An Armenian appeals court refused on Wednesday to order the release
of a Lebanese-Armenian nationalist activist pending the politically
charged investigation into his alleged plans to forcibly topple the
government in Yerevan.
The Court of Appeals also upheld late Tuesday the pre-trial detention
of a senior member of a small opposition party who is facing the
same accusations.
Zhirayr Sefilian, the leader of a hard-line pressure group opposed to
any concessions to Azerbaijan, and Vartan Malkhasian of the Fatherland
and Honor party were arrested earlier this month and charged under
an article of the Criminal Code that deals with public calls for a
"violent overthrow of constitutional order."
Armenia's National Security Service (NSS) says they set up a
clandestine organization, called the Alliance of Armenian Volunteers
(HKH), to mount an armed uprising against the government during
parliamentary elections expected next spring. NSS officers also rounded
up and briefly detained about 30 other presumed members of the group.
Sefilian and Malkhasian, who deny their accusations as politically
motivated, were remanded in pre-trial custody by a Yerevan court
of first instance on December 12. The court refused to release them
on bail, saying that they could flee the country, obstruct justice
or exert "illegal influence" on investigators. The Court of Appeals
accepted this line of reasoning despite claims to the contrary made
by the suspects' lawyers.
The charges stem from a December 2 meeting of HKH activists in
Yerevan. Addressing them, Sefilian warned that "we will crack the head
of anyone who will dare to surrender land" to Azerbaijan, adding that
"there are many people in our country who are ready to do that."
The Lebanese Armenian, who is a prominent participant of the war
in Nagorno-Karabakh, urged supporters to organize themselves before
attempting "to solve the matter with arms."
"Getting rid of this criminal regime is a matter of national
salvation," Malkhasian stated, for his part. "We must fight them with
their methods. Blood and fire on the enemy!"
Sefilian's lawyers insisted on Wednesday that these statements did not
contain explicit calls for a violent overthrow of the ruling regime.
By Astghik Bedevian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Dec 27 2006
An Armenian appeals court refused on Wednesday to order the release
of a Lebanese-Armenian nationalist activist pending the politically
charged investigation into his alleged plans to forcibly topple the
government in Yerevan.
The Court of Appeals also upheld late Tuesday the pre-trial detention
of a senior member of a small opposition party who is facing the
same accusations.
Zhirayr Sefilian, the leader of a hard-line pressure group opposed to
any concessions to Azerbaijan, and Vartan Malkhasian of the Fatherland
and Honor party were arrested earlier this month and charged under
an article of the Criminal Code that deals with public calls for a
"violent overthrow of constitutional order."
Armenia's National Security Service (NSS) says they set up a
clandestine organization, called the Alliance of Armenian Volunteers
(HKH), to mount an armed uprising against the government during
parliamentary elections expected next spring. NSS officers also rounded
up and briefly detained about 30 other presumed members of the group.
Sefilian and Malkhasian, who deny their accusations as politically
motivated, were remanded in pre-trial custody by a Yerevan court
of first instance on December 12. The court refused to release them
on bail, saying that they could flee the country, obstruct justice
or exert "illegal influence" on investigators. The Court of Appeals
accepted this line of reasoning despite claims to the contrary made
by the suspects' lawyers.
The charges stem from a December 2 meeting of HKH activists in
Yerevan. Addressing them, Sefilian warned that "we will crack the head
of anyone who will dare to surrender land" to Azerbaijan, adding that
"there are many people in our country who are ready to do that."
The Lebanese Armenian, who is a prominent participant of the war
in Nagorno-Karabakh, urged supporters to organize themselves before
attempting "to solve the matter with arms."
"Getting rid of this criminal regime is a matter of national
salvation," Malkhasian stated, for his part. "We must fight them with
their methods. Blood and fire on the enemy!"
Sefilian's lawyers insisted on Wednesday that these statements did not
contain explicit calls for a violent overthrow of the ruling regime.