Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Dashnak Leader Condemns Oppositionist's Beating

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Dashnak Leader Condemns Oppositionist's Beating

    DASHNAK LEADER CONDEMNS OPPOSITIONIST'S BEATING
    By Ruzanna Stepanian

    Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
    Oct 10 2006

    A leader of the governing Armenian Revolutionary Federation
    (Dashnaktsutyun), Vahan Hovannisian, on Tuesday added his voice
    to condemnations of the weekend beating of a prominent opposition
    politician, saying that it was politically motivated.

    Suren Abrahamian, a senior member of the opposition Hanrapetutyun
    (Republic) who served as interior minister in 1999, was reportedly
    attacked near his house in Yerevan by a group of unknown men.

    Hovannisian, who is also a deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament,
    condemned the violence as a "terrible and ugly phenomenon." "This
    attack on Suren Abrahamian had to do with political activities,"
    he told journalists. "This is not only unacceptable but condemnable,
    and this must be eliminated from our political life."

    Hanrapetutyun leaders have implicitly alleged that the attack may have
    been the work of Prime Minister Andranik Markarian, who was recently
    branded a "criminal element" by Abrahamian. The latter says that the
    attackers demanded that he apologize to their unspecified boss.

    Markarian dismissed such suspicions on Monday amid lingering opposition
    allegations that his Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) is increasingly
    relying on controversial government-connected businessmen regarded as
    "criminal elements" by the opposition.

    Dashnaktsutyun refers to them as "apolitical forces." Bodyguards
    of those businessmen have been widely blamed for similar attacks on
    other oppositionists as well as journalists critical of the government.

    According to Hovannisian, Abrahamian's beating underscored the need
    for a special law that would strictly regulate private security
    services. He complained that the government is reluctant to back a
    relevant bill drafted by Dashnaktsutyun.
    From: Baghdasarian
Working...
X