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EU presidency calls for Armenian opposition leader to be freed
EUbusiness (press release), UK
March 1 2008
01 March 2008, 19:47 CET
(BRUSSELS) - The European Union's Slovenian presidency on Saturday
called on Armenia's government to free opposition leader Levon
Ter-Petrosian from house arrest and demonstrators detained by police.
"The presidency is deeply concerned about the curtailment of freedom of
movement of the opposition leader and former presidential candidate
Levon Ter-Petrosian and about the detention of demonstrators,"
a statement said.
"The presidency calls for their immediate release."
Ter-Petrosian, the defeated presidential candidate and former president
of the mountainous country, said Saturday he had been placed under
house arrest following a police crackdown.
Meanwhile, the Armenian government threatened to call a state of
emergency if the political crisis that flared following a presidential
election last month worsened.
Riot police clashed in Yerevan with demonstrators on an 11th
consecutive day of protests against alleged rigging of the February
19 poll.
The Slovenian presidency called for all sides to be peaceful and
"to reengage in political dialogue immediately in order to restore
stability in the country."
Protesters claim the election was rigged to ensure victory for Prime
Minister Serzh Sarkisian, a close ally of outgoing President Robert
Kocharian.
But observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) have said that the election "mostly" met international
standards.
Official results gave 52.9 percent of the vote to Sarkisian and 21.5
percent to Ter-Petrosian.
EUbusiness (press release), UK
March 1 2008
01 March 2008, 19:47 CET
(BRUSSELS) - The European Union's Slovenian presidency on Saturday
called on Armenia's government to free opposition leader Levon
Ter-Petrosian from house arrest and demonstrators detained by police.
"The presidency is deeply concerned about the curtailment of freedom of
movement of the opposition leader and former presidential candidate
Levon Ter-Petrosian and about the detention of demonstrators,"
a statement said.
"The presidency calls for their immediate release."
Ter-Petrosian, the defeated presidential candidate and former president
of the mountainous country, said Saturday he had been placed under
house arrest following a police crackdown.
Meanwhile, the Armenian government threatened to call a state of
emergency if the political crisis that flared following a presidential
election last month worsened.
Riot police clashed in Yerevan with demonstrators on an 11th
consecutive day of protests against alleged rigging of the February
19 poll.
The Slovenian presidency called for all sides to be peaceful and
"to reengage in political dialogue immediately in order to restore
stability in the country."
Protesters claim the election was rigged to ensure victory for Prime
Minister Serzh Sarkisian, a close ally of outgoing President Robert
Kocharian.
But observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) have said that the election "mostly" met international
standards.
Official results gave 52.9 percent of the vote to Sarkisian and 21.5
percent to Ter-Petrosian.