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They Want To Shut Him Up

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  • They Want To Shut Him Up

    THEY WANT TO SHUT HIM UP

    Haykakan Zhamanak
    Nov 8 2008
    Armenia

    A Karabakh war veteran and Armenian French, Sargis Hatspanyan, was
    arrested yesterday [7 November]. This took place after employees
    of the National Security Service [NSS] took him to the NSS on the
    pretext of questioning him.

    After Hatspanyan's interview to our paper, where he speaks about
    a possible attack on [President] Serzh Sargsyan, the NSS opened
    a criminal case on the basis of Article 35-305 of the Criminal
    Code (preparation for killing a state official). According to our
    information, Hatspanyan's interrogation lasted for a short time at
    the NSS and a decision was made quickly to arrest him on suspicion
    specified by Article 333 of the Criminal Code (false crime reporting).

    However, we believe that the leadership had made the decision to
    arrest Hatspanyan earlier, in particular, on the day of publishing
    Hatspanyan's interview in our newspaper. The authorities have been
    persecuting Hatspanyan for a long time. During [opposition] rallies
    held in February police tried to arrest Hatspanyan a few times on
    Freedom Square [venue of round-the-clock opposition protests].

    Hatspanyan had been hiding since the events of 1 March [post-election
    disturbances in Armenia's capital Yerevan]. Law-enforcement bodies
    focused their attention on him again after he came out of hiding. They
    tried to evict him from Armenia at that time. However, due to a lot of
    noise, as well as due to Hatspanyan's being decisive and inflexible,
    the authorities had to carry out the eviction process according to
    the legal procedure, which requires certain time.

    Hatspanyan has played a significant role in the [opposition]
    Pan-National Movement, which put the task of isolating him on the
    agenda of the authorities. On the other hand, the authorities have
    proved with their steps that the information stated in Hatspanyan's
    interview has grounds. He has been isolated for this reason as
    well. Otherwise, Hatspanyan could have continued his disclosures
    around this issue.
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