Tweet
POLICE SET TO PROSECUTE 'DELINQUENT' TER-PETROSIAN SUPPORTERS
By Astghik Bedevian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Jan 29 2008
The Armenian police launched criminal proceedings on Tuesday against
supporters of former President Levon Ter-Petrosian who drove through
the streets of Yerevan on Monday in a motorcade of more than a hundred
cars led by the opposition presidential candidate.
The collective ride, not sanctioned by municipal authorities, lasted
for more than an hour and ended in a rally in the city's northern Avan
suburb. It was aimed at drumming up popular support for Ter-Petrosian
and possibly exerting psychological pressure on the government.
A statement by the police said that the motorcade disrupted traffic
in the city center and that participants of the car parade defied
orders by road police officers and threatened to use force against
them. It said a criminal case has been opened under a corresponding
article of the Armenian Criminal Code.
The police did not immediately charge any of the Ter-Petrosian
campaigners. Instead, it reportedly impounded cars belonging to some
of the ex-president's close associates, including the chairmen of
the former ruling Armenian Pan-National Movement and the radical
opposition Hanrapetutyun party.
Also, law-enforcement authorities announced late Monday the launch of
a separate criminal investigation into a violent incident that marred
Ter-Petrosian's weekend campaign rally in the central town of Talin.
Several Ter-Petrosian loyalists reportedly threw punches at a man
who heckled the ex-president as the latter was about to address
local residents. According to media reports, the man, identified as
Sarkis Karapetian, was assaulted after telling Ter-Petrosian that
"the people of Talin are not with you."
The Office of the Prosecutor-General identified three alleged attackers
of Karapetian, among them a local leader of Hanrapetutyun, but would
not say if any of them have already been formally charged with assault.
Ter-Petrosian's election campaign headquarters was quick to condemn
both criminal cases. "These actions are aimed at stemming Levon
Ter-Petrosian's triumph in the presidential elections and taking the
pre-election situation out of control," it said in a statement. "We
warn Armenia's kleptocratic authorities that they will bear full
responsibility for unpredictable consequences of these actions."
The statement described the violent incident in Talin as a government
"provocation." It also claimed that the police have "effectively
paralyzed" the Ter-Petrosian campaign in Talin by summoning its
activists for questioning en masse.
Also reacting to the Talin incident were two nationalist activists
controversially imprisoned by the Armenian authorities. Like
Karapetian, Zhirayr Sefilian and Vartan Malkhasian are veterans of the
1992-1994 war in Karabakh. In a joint statement from their prison,
they alleged that the attack victim is a government agent who had
been paid by Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian to spy on war veterans
unhappy with Armenia's leadership.
Sefilian and Malkhasian, who support Ter-Petrosian's presidential bid,
at the same time urged the ex-president's loyalists to "beware such
provocations and be more tolerant in the future."
In a related development, the police also commented on reports
that they forcibly closed Ter-Petrosian's sole campaign office in
the southeastern town of Kapan on Monday. The office head, Roman
Navasardian, told RFE/RL that he and his comrades were forced out
of the premises after their owner unexpectedly decided to terminate
their lease.
A police statement said that law-enforcement officers in Kapan simply
intervened in a bust-up between the owner, identified as "citizen A.,"
and individuals who occupied his property "by fraudulent means."
By Astghik Bedevian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Jan 29 2008
The Armenian police launched criminal proceedings on Tuesday against
supporters of former President Levon Ter-Petrosian who drove through
the streets of Yerevan on Monday in a motorcade of more than a hundred
cars led by the opposition presidential candidate.
The collective ride, not sanctioned by municipal authorities, lasted
for more than an hour and ended in a rally in the city's northern Avan
suburb. It was aimed at drumming up popular support for Ter-Petrosian
and possibly exerting psychological pressure on the government.
A statement by the police said that the motorcade disrupted traffic
in the city center and that participants of the car parade defied
orders by road police officers and threatened to use force against
them. It said a criminal case has been opened under a corresponding
article of the Armenian Criminal Code.
The police did not immediately charge any of the Ter-Petrosian
campaigners. Instead, it reportedly impounded cars belonging to some
of the ex-president's close associates, including the chairmen of
the former ruling Armenian Pan-National Movement and the radical
opposition Hanrapetutyun party.
Also, law-enforcement authorities announced late Monday the launch of
a separate criminal investigation into a violent incident that marred
Ter-Petrosian's weekend campaign rally in the central town of Talin.
Several Ter-Petrosian loyalists reportedly threw punches at a man
who heckled the ex-president as the latter was about to address
local residents. According to media reports, the man, identified as
Sarkis Karapetian, was assaulted after telling Ter-Petrosian that
"the people of Talin are not with you."
The Office of the Prosecutor-General identified three alleged attackers
of Karapetian, among them a local leader of Hanrapetutyun, but would
not say if any of them have already been formally charged with assault.
Ter-Petrosian's election campaign headquarters was quick to condemn
both criminal cases. "These actions are aimed at stemming Levon
Ter-Petrosian's triumph in the presidential elections and taking the
pre-election situation out of control," it said in a statement. "We
warn Armenia's kleptocratic authorities that they will bear full
responsibility for unpredictable consequences of these actions."
The statement described the violent incident in Talin as a government
"provocation." It also claimed that the police have "effectively
paralyzed" the Ter-Petrosian campaign in Talin by summoning its
activists for questioning en masse.
Also reacting to the Talin incident were two nationalist activists
controversially imprisoned by the Armenian authorities. Like
Karapetian, Zhirayr Sefilian and Vartan Malkhasian are veterans of the
1992-1994 war in Karabakh. In a joint statement from their prison,
they alleged that the attack victim is a government agent who had
been paid by Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian to spy on war veterans
unhappy with Armenia's leadership.
Sefilian and Malkhasian, who support Ter-Petrosian's presidential bid,
at the same time urged the ex-president's loyalists to "beware such
provocations and be more tolerant in the future."
In a related development, the police also commented on reports
that they forcibly closed Ter-Petrosian's sole campaign office in
the southeastern town of Kapan on Monday. The office head, Roman
Navasardian, told RFE/RL that he and his comrades were forced out
of the premises after their owner unexpectedly decided to terminate
their lease.
A police statement said that law-enforcement officers in Kapan simply
intervened in a bust-up between the owner, identified as "citizen A.,"
and individuals who occupied his property "by fraudulent means."