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FORMER PRESIDENT LEVON TER-PETROSYAN'S SUPPORTERS ARE BEING REPRESSED
by Gayane Sahakyan
Aravot, Armenia
Feb 28 2008
Participants in the rallies organized by the first president of Armenia
[Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who was president 1991-1998], especially those
who make speeches, are being subjected to repeated persecution and
harassment. Police officers search their apartments.
They are dismissed from their jobs. Besides, some individuals are
calling the most active participants of the rally and threatening
them, "If you don't stop going to Freedom Square, we will harm your
family members."
A citizen of the Gegharkunik Region town of Vardenis, Smbat Shaboyan,
was dismissed from his job as an inspector for the Armenian Water
Company, because he was actively participating in Levon Ter-Petrosyan's
rallies.
[Passage omitted: Shaboyan describes circumstances of his dismissal]
Smbat Shaboyan is a Yerkrapah [member of veterans' organization]
and was maimed on the battlefield. After his cooperation with Levon
Ter-Petrosyan, the authorities deprived him even of the disability
pension.
[Passage omitted: Shaboyan says his sister is also threatened with
dismissal]
During the rally yesterday, participants from Vardenis claimed that
in their town members of the [ruling] Republican Party of Armenia
are privileged and have access to good positions, while those who
are not Republicans are unemployed.
Mher Muradyan, a Ter-Petrosyan supporter from Vardenis, not only
cannot find work in his native town, but he was recently deprived of
the Paros benefit [for low-income families] after he started to attend
the rallies. He has two small children, and nobody works in his family.
The president of the Dilijan branch of the Test of Spirit [veterans]
organization, Gevorg Amirkhanyan, told Aravot that he and his family
have been constantly terrorized for two weeks now. At six o'clock
yesterday morning, ten Dilijan police officers and a group of men in
civilian clothes entered Amirkhanyan's flat, turned everything upside
down, and took away Amirkhanyan's passport.
"I was not at home at the time," Gevorg said. "I was at the rally.
They destroyed my possessions. Besides my passport, they took the
records of Levon Ter-Petrosyan's rallies. It is ridiculous, but they
confiscated from my apartment a nunchaku, which I used for exercises,
saying it was an unauthorized weapon."
Gevorg hasn't been home for seven days. During all this time, pressure
was put on his family to make Gevorg return. There were threats that
if he didn't come home, something bad would happen. "If I go home,
I am sure I will be arrested immediately," he said.
The persecution also affects students who participate in Levon
Ter-Petrosyan's rallies. Students of the Armenian Agrarian University
said that the doors of their institution are closed against them: "As
soon as the lecture starts, the doors of the auditorium are closed,
so nobody can go to the rally. We were threatened that we would be
expelled from the University if we go to the rally."
by Gayane Sahakyan
Aravot, Armenia
Feb 28 2008
Participants in the rallies organized by the first president of Armenia
[Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who was president 1991-1998], especially those
who make speeches, are being subjected to repeated persecution and
harassment. Police officers search their apartments.
They are dismissed from their jobs. Besides, some individuals are
calling the most active participants of the rally and threatening
them, "If you don't stop going to Freedom Square, we will harm your
family members."
A citizen of the Gegharkunik Region town of Vardenis, Smbat Shaboyan,
was dismissed from his job as an inspector for the Armenian Water
Company, because he was actively participating in Levon Ter-Petrosyan's
rallies.
[Passage omitted: Shaboyan describes circumstances of his dismissal]
Smbat Shaboyan is a Yerkrapah [member of veterans' organization]
and was maimed on the battlefield. After his cooperation with Levon
Ter-Petrosyan, the authorities deprived him even of the disability
pension.
[Passage omitted: Shaboyan says his sister is also threatened with
dismissal]
During the rally yesterday, participants from Vardenis claimed that
in their town members of the [ruling] Republican Party of Armenia
are privileged and have access to good positions, while those who
are not Republicans are unemployed.
Mher Muradyan, a Ter-Petrosyan supporter from Vardenis, not only
cannot find work in his native town, but he was recently deprived of
the Paros benefit [for low-income families] after he started to attend
the rallies. He has two small children, and nobody works in his family.
The president of the Dilijan branch of the Test of Spirit [veterans]
organization, Gevorg Amirkhanyan, told Aravot that he and his family
have been constantly terrorized for two weeks now. At six o'clock
yesterday morning, ten Dilijan police officers and a group of men in
civilian clothes entered Amirkhanyan's flat, turned everything upside
down, and took away Amirkhanyan's passport.
"I was not at home at the time," Gevorg said. "I was at the rally.
They destroyed my possessions. Besides my passport, they took the
records of Levon Ter-Petrosyan's rallies. It is ridiculous, but they
confiscated from my apartment a nunchaku, which I used for exercises,
saying it was an unauthorized weapon."
Gevorg hasn't been home for seven days. During all this time, pressure
was put on his family to make Gevorg return. There were threats that
if he didn't come home, something bad would happen. "If I go home,
I am sure I will be arrested immediately," he said.
The persecution also affects students who participate in Levon
Ter-Petrosyan's rallies. Students of the Armenian Agrarian University
said that the doors of their institution are closed against them: "As
soon as the lecture starts, the doors of the auditorium are closed,
so nobody can go to the rally. We were threatened that we would be
expelled from the University if we go to the rally."