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UPDATE 2-ARMENIA PRESSURES OPPONENTS, ARRESTS 30 FOR RIOTS
By Hasmik Lazarian and Margarita Antidze
Reuters
March 4 2008
UK
YEREVAN, March 4 (Reuters) - Armenian police have arrested 30
opposition activists and accused them of starting a riot in which
eight people were killed, the prosecutor general said on Tuesday.
Armenia imposed a 20-day state of emergency on Saturday following
mass protests against last month's presidential election, which the
opposition says was rigged.
"Thirty people have been detained for provoking mass disturbances on
March 1, not obeying the police and violent actions against policemen,"
the prosecutor-general's office said in a statement.
A series of anti-government rallies after the Feb. 19 election erupted
in street battles between demonstrators and police on Saturday -- the
worst civil violence in the tiny Caucasus state since its independence
from the Soviet Union.
President-elect Serzh Saksaryan, who won 53 percent of the vote,
defended the emergency laws as necessary and urged the authorities
to confiscate illegal weapons to maintain order.
"In a very short space of time we have to find and confiscate all
illegal weapons in the country and provide the rule of law and
guarantee the democratic development of our country," he told a
news briefing.
His main rival, former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, won 21.5
percent. Robert Kocharyan, the current president and Sarksyan's ally,
ordered the army onto the streets and imposed emergency laws during
the riots.
A pro-Sarksyan parliament also voted to strip four opposition
parliamentarians of their immunity from prosecution, allowing police
to arrest them for stirring up violence at the riot.
SOLDIERS
Soldiers continued to patrol Yerevan's streets and armoured personnel
carriers stood in the main square.
"The situation in Yerevan is fully under control," General Seyran
Ohanyan, the chief of Armenia's general military staff, told a news
conference. "If it's needed, we'll help police to guarantee public
order.
Police had arrested a handful of prominent opposition figures --
for allegedly plotting a coup or hoarding firearms -- during daily
mass demonstrations in the capital Yerevan.
Armenia, whose traditions and culture are deeply entwined with
its ancient Christian heritage, lies in the Caucasus, a key route
for pumping oil from Asia to world markets, though Armenia has no
pipelines of its own.
Envoys from Europe and the United States have flown to Armenia since
Sunday to encourage dialogue. Heikki Talvitie, a special OSCE envoy,
as well as EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner,
both urged Armenia to lift the state of emergency as soon as possible.
"We need political dialogue to find a way forward, and such a dialogue
is not possible as long as the state of emergency remains in place,"
Talvitie said in a statement.
But both sides have so far refused to negotiate. Opposition leaders
have told supporters not to protest during the emergency which they
say is part of an organised campaign against them.
Opponents accuse Kocharyan and Sarksyan of corruption and nepotism,
charges they deny. Ter-Petrosyan's popularity stems from his time as
the first president of independent Armenia. (Additional reporting and
writing by Margarita Antidze and James Kilner in Yerevan; Editing by
Stephen Weeks)
By Hasmik Lazarian and Margarita Antidze
Reuters
March 4 2008
UK
YEREVAN, March 4 (Reuters) - Armenian police have arrested 30
opposition activists and accused them of starting a riot in which
eight people were killed, the prosecutor general said on Tuesday.
Armenia imposed a 20-day state of emergency on Saturday following
mass protests against last month's presidential election, which the
opposition says was rigged.
"Thirty people have been detained for provoking mass disturbances on
March 1, not obeying the police and violent actions against policemen,"
the prosecutor-general's office said in a statement.
A series of anti-government rallies after the Feb. 19 election erupted
in street battles between demonstrators and police on Saturday -- the
worst civil violence in the tiny Caucasus state since its independence
from the Soviet Union.
President-elect Serzh Saksaryan, who won 53 percent of the vote,
defended the emergency laws as necessary and urged the authorities
to confiscate illegal weapons to maintain order.
"In a very short space of time we have to find and confiscate all
illegal weapons in the country and provide the rule of law and
guarantee the democratic development of our country," he told a
news briefing.
His main rival, former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, won 21.5
percent. Robert Kocharyan, the current president and Sarksyan's ally,
ordered the army onto the streets and imposed emergency laws during
the riots.
A pro-Sarksyan parliament also voted to strip four opposition
parliamentarians of their immunity from prosecution, allowing police
to arrest them for stirring up violence at the riot.
SOLDIERS
Soldiers continued to patrol Yerevan's streets and armoured personnel
carriers stood in the main square.
"The situation in Yerevan is fully under control," General Seyran
Ohanyan, the chief of Armenia's general military staff, told a news
conference. "If it's needed, we'll help police to guarantee public
order.
Police had arrested a handful of prominent opposition figures --
for allegedly plotting a coup or hoarding firearms -- during daily
mass demonstrations in the capital Yerevan.
Armenia, whose traditions and culture are deeply entwined with
its ancient Christian heritage, lies in the Caucasus, a key route
for pumping oil from Asia to world markets, though Armenia has no
pipelines of its own.
Envoys from Europe and the United States have flown to Armenia since
Sunday to encourage dialogue. Heikki Talvitie, a special OSCE envoy,
as well as EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner,
both urged Armenia to lift the state of emergency as soon as possible.
"We need political dialogue to find a way forward, and such a dialogue
is not possible as long as the state of emergency remains in place,"
Talvitie said in a statement.
But both sides have so far refused to negotiate. Opposition leaders
have told supporters not to protest during the emergency which they
say is part of an organised campaign against them.
Opponents accuse Kocharyan and Sarksyan of corruption and nepotism,
charges they deny. Ter-Petrosyan's popularity stems from his time as
the first president of independent Armenia. (Additional reporting and
writing by Margarita Antidze and James Kilner in Yerevan; Editing by
Stephen Weeks)