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Whom Did Civilitas Displease In Armenia?

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  • Whom Did Civilitas Displease In Armenia?

    WHOM DID CIVILITAS DISPLEASE IN ARMENIA?

    Vestnik Kavkaza
    http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/politics/27938.html
    June 18 2012
    Russia

    The law-enforcement agencies' attack on the fund Civilitas, headed by
    the former foreign minister of Armenia, Vardan Oskanyan, became the
    most discussed topic in the summer information calm in the republic.

    Last week Oskanyan was invited to the National Security Service of
    Armenia to be a witness in a criminal case initiated on May 25.

    Oskanyan was asked to tell about "legalization of revenues gained by
    illegal ways," which concerns Oskanyan and his fund Civilitas.

    On June 13 the former minister was invited to the NSS as a witness in
    the criminal case into money laundering. However, Oskanyan refused to
    talk. Oskanyan told journalists that it was obvious he was questioned
    not as a witness, but as a suspect. The former minister invoked his
    constitutional right and refused to talk. At the same time, Civilitas's
    criminal case has political background, as it was initiated the day
    after the leader of Prosperous Armenia, Gagik Tsarukyan, chose to
    join the ruling coalition.

    The fund of Civilitas deals with human rights protection,
    democratization issues and establishing a civil society. After Oskanyan
    had joined the Prosperous Armenia party ahead of the parliamentary
    elections, he rejected the position of the fund's chairman.

    >From the very beginning, Civilitas has been financed by the governments
    of the Netherlands and Poland, the foreign ministries of Norway and
    Germany, development agencies in Switzerland and the UK, the US embassy
    in Armenia, the OSCE office in Yerevan, and other organizations,
    corporations, and individuals. Oskanyan is sure that the relevant
    Armenian structures have been aware of it. He stated that a political
    order is behind the initiation of the criminal case.

    The ruling Republican Party of Armenia denies the existence of any
    political reasons for the initiation of the criminal case. However,
    the press secretary of Prosperous Armenia, Tigran Urikhanyan, thinks
    that the law-enforcement agencies are doing their best to blacken
    Vardan Oskanyan's name. "If it is a financial case, why don't the
    relevant bodies deal with it? Why was the criminal case initiated
    immediately? The political background is obvious," Urikhanyan stated.

    Meanwhile, foreign ambassadors in Armenia got involved in the case
    of Civilitas. On June 14 ambassadors of the USA, Switzerland, France,
    the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Romania visited the fund.

    According to the US ambassador to Armenia, John Heffern, "the embassy
    is interested and is following attentively the criminal case initiated
    into money laundering by the fund Civilitas. The fact that it is
    happening at the moment concerns us."

    First of all we should answer the questions: whom did Vardan Oskanyan
    displease and why? Why are they paying attention to the fund at the
    moment? It is obvious that the law-enforcement agencies will apply
    harsh methods, and the case negatively influences the international
    image of Armenia. It seems that the president of Armenia Sargsyan
    wants to show that he has bad relations with his predecessor, Robert
    Kocharyan.

    The case of Civilitas poses more questions than answers. It is also
    unclear whether Oskanyan really understands the whole background
    of the attack on him or not. One thing is obvious - if Civilitas
    corrupted the law, the relevant bodies knew about it long before the
    fuss that started. The fact that this case was initiated ahead of
    the presidential election campaign is very significant.

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