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ONE LAW FOR THEM, ANOTHER FOR US
by Nvard Hovhannisyan
Transitions Online
http://www.tol.org/client/article/23250-one-law-for-them-another-for-us.html
Czech Republic
July 10 2012
A violent death in Armenia reveals a two-tier system of justice. From
IWPR.
YEREVAN | The violent death of an army doctor at a restaurant
in Yerevan continues to cause waves of anger in Armenia, where
campaigners and opposition politicians blame a culture of impunity
among the country's ruling classes.
Vahe Avetyan was assaulted at the restaurant on 17 June, allegedly
first by a waiter who refused to admit him because he was wearing
sports gear, and then by security guards, who also beat two other
army doctors who were with Avetyan.
Avetyan died 12 days later in a hospital without ever regaining
consciousness.
Mourners thronged the military funeral for Major Vahe Avetyan. Image
from a video by Slaqam.
The incident caught the public's attention because the restaurant was
owned by the family of Ruben Hayrapetyan, a member of parliament and
chairman of the Armenian Football Federation.
On 30 June, the day after Avetyan's death, hundreds of people lit
candles outside the restaurant where the attack happened. Some held
up banners saying, "I am Vahe."
In the following days, similar demonstrations took place outside
the president's official residence, parliament, and the prosecutor
general's office. The protesters demanded an investigation and called
on Hayrapetyan to step down from parliament and from the football
federation.
"Vahe Avetyan's case is unique in that the victim was one of us. ...
This case has sparked concern even in sections of society that were
apolitical before," Tsovinar Nazaryan, a journalist who joined the
protests, said.
Four parties - Dashnaktsutyun, Heritage, Prosperous Armenia and the
Armenian National Congress - have demanded a parliamentary debate on
the murder.
On 4 July, Hayrapetyan had a meeting with President Serzh Sargsyan
and announced his resignation.
"I feel a moral obligation to resign my mandate as a deputy of the
Armenian National Assembly. I ask all who voted for me to forgive me
for being unable to meet their expectations, but I am certain I had to
take this step," he said. "I hope that one day I will be forgiven by
Vahe's family. Whatever happens, I will do all I can to achieve that."
Opposition politicians said the politician's remarks were not nearly
enough.
Nikol Pashinyan of the Armenian National Congress party warned against
any attempt to "consign the murder of Vahe Avetyan to oblivion."
"We must do everything we can to ensure that it is not forgotten,
because if we do forget, if we do fail to ensure the public is aware
of it, that will mean we are giving assent for more such incidents,"
Pashinyan said.
Hayrapetyan has denied any involvement with or connection with the
restaurant assault.
The public anger sparked by the incident comes after previous cases
where guards employed by politicians have been accused of assaulting
people and have gotten off lightly.
Avetik Ishkhanyan, head of the Armenian Helsinki Association, a human
rights group, described witnessing an incident in which bodyguards
of a member of parliament beat a man.
"When I called the police and asked why they couldn't arrest them,
they replied that they were powerless to do so," he said.
The victim, 35-year-old Andranik Babayan, died later in a hospital
without having regained consciousness.
Ishkhanyan recalled another incident in 2001 in which a bodyguard
of then-President Robert Kocharyan attacked and killed a man in a
cafe toilet.
The victim, Poghos Poghosyan, had reportedly addressed the president
with the words, "Hi, Bob."
Babayan's killer served only six months, while the bodyguard convicted
of murdering Poghosyan received a suspended sentence of two years.
Ishkhanyan said perpetrators were generally punished only when the
level of public anger became too great to be ignored, but even then,
the sentences imposed were nominal.
Zaruhi Postanjyan, a parliamentarian from the Heritage Party, said
such light penalties were clearly no deterrent.
The Dashnaktsutyun party has been pushing for eight years to regulate
private security firms. It wants to impose a licensing system, testing,
and standard uniforms; to make it illegal to hire more than three
bodyguards; and to bar public officials from having any private guards.
Ishkhanyan said he doubted new legislation would change anything.
"The problem in Armenia is not the laws, but how they are observed,"
he said. "The laws we have now allow for punishment. New laws or
legislative amendments are basically there just as a demonstrative
sign to the domestic and international public," he said.
Nvard Hovhannisyan is a freelance journalist in Armenia. This article
originally appeared on www.iwpr.net.
by Nvard Hovhannisyan
Transitions Online
http://www.tol.org/client/article/23250-one-law-for-them-another-for-us.html
Czech Republic
July 10 2012
A violent death in Armenia reveals a two-tier system of justice. From
IWPR.
YEREVAN | The violent death of an army doctor at a restaurant
in Yerevan continues to cause waves of anger in Armenia, where
campaigners and opposition politicians blame a culture of impunity
among the country's ruling classes.
Vahe Avetyan was assaulted at the restaurant on 17 June, allegedly
first by a waiter who refused to admit him because he was wearing
sports gear, and then by security guards, who also beat two other
army doctors who were with Avetyan.
Avetyan died 12 days later in a hospital without ever regaining
consciousness.
Mourners thronged the military funeral for Major Vahe Avetyan. Image
from a video by Slaqam.
The incident caught the public's attention because the restaurant was
owned by the family of Ruben Hayrapetyan, a member of parliament and
chairman of the Armenian Football Federation.
On 30 June, the day after Avetyan's death, hundreds of people lit
candles outside the restaurant where the attack happened. Some held
up banners saying, "I am Vahe."
In the following days, similar demonstrations took place outside
the president's official residence, parliament, and the prosecutor
general's office. The protesters demanded an investigation and called
on Hayrapetyan to step down from parliament and from the football
federation.
"Vahe Avetyan's case is unique in that the victim was one of us. ...
This case has sparked concern even in sections of society that were
apolitical before," Tsovinar Nazaryan, a journalist who joined the
protests, said.
Four parties - Dashnaktsutyun, Heritage, Prosperous Armenia and the
Armenian National Congress - have demanded a parliamentary debate on
the murder.
On 4 July, Hayrapetyan had a meeting with President Serzh Sargsyan
and announced his resignation.
"I feel a moral obligation to resign my mandate as a deputy of the
Armenian National Assembly. I ask all who voted for me to forgive me
for being unable to meet their expectations, but I am certain I had to
take this step," he said. "I hope that one day I will be forgiven by
Vahe's family. Whatever happens, I will do all I can to achieve that."
Opposition politicians said the politician's remarks were not nearly
enough.
Nikol Pashinyan of the Armenian National Congress party warned against
any attempt to "consign the murder of Vahe Avetyan to oblivion."
"We must do everything we can to ensure that it is not forgotten,
because if we do forget, if we do fail to ensure the public is aware
of it, that will mean we are giving assent for more such incidents,"
Pashinyan said.
Hayrapetyan has denied any involvement with or connection with the
restaurant assault.
The public anger sparked by the incident comes after previous cases
where guards employed by politicians have been accused of assaulting
people and have gotten off lightly.
Avetik Ishkhanyan, head of the Armenian Helsinki Association, a human
rights group, described witnessing an incident in which bodyguards
of a member of parliament beat a man.
"When I called the police and asked why they couldn't arrest them,
they replied that they were powerless to do so," he said.
The victim, 35-year-old Andranik Babayan, died later in a hospital
without having regained consciousness.
Ishkhanyan recalled another incident in 2001 in which a bodyguard
of then-President Robert Kocharyan attacked and killed a man in a
cafe toilet.
The victim, Poghos Poghosyan, had reportedly addressed the president
with the words, "Hi, Bob."
Babayan's killer served only six months, while the bodyguard convicted
of murdering Poghosyan received a suspended sentence of two years.
Ishkhanyan said perpetrators were generally punished only when the
level of public anger became too great to be ignored, but even then,
the sentences imposed were nominal.
Zaruhi Postanjyan, a parliamentarian from the Heritage Party, said
such light penalties were clearly no deterrent.
The Dashnaktsutyun party has been pushing for eight years to regulate
private security firms. It wants to impose a licensing system, testing,
and standard uniforms; to make it illegal to hire more than three
bodyguards; and to bar public officials from having any private guards.
Ishkhanyan said he doubted new legislation would change anything.
"The problem in Armenia is not the laws, but how they are observed,"
he said. "The laws we have now allow for punishment. New laws or
legislative amendments are basically there just as a demonstrative
sign to the domestic and international public," he said.
Nvard Hovhannisyan is a freelance journalist in Armenia. This article
originally appeared on www.iwpr.net.