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GREEN COURT: YEREVAN PARK ACTIVISTS ISSUE ULTIMATUM ON CITY HALL
By Lilit Arakelyan
ArmeniaNow
14.03.12 | 11:51
Authorities in Yerevan have until Friday to dismantle the kiosks in
a public garden or see environmentalists take the matter into their
own hands, according to a verdict passed by a green "public court"
in Mashtots Park Tuesday.
Enlarge Photo
With real courts reluctant to accept lawsuits against the decision by
the Yerevan municipality to allow the owners of kiosks that had been
dismantled from the Abovyan Street sidewalk to install their property
in what is listed as the city's green area, dozens of activists of
the environmental movement decided to stage "legal proceedings" of
their own, declaring it to be the first in a series of "public trials"
to defend public property.
Environmentalists threatened that in the absence of an appropriate
decision by the municipality within the next few days they will take
it upon themselves to dismantle the kiosks. They did not elaborate.
Following the event, some members of the movement began a sit-in
action in the venue despite attempts by police to prevent.
Mashtots Park has seen recurrent standoffs between young activists
of the movement and police since early February. In particular, on
several occasions protesters managed to break through police cordons
and enter construction sites to stop construction. None of the action
has turned violent yet.
Activist Artur Grigoryan told ArmeniaNow on Tuesday that holding such
a symbolic 'civil trial' was a means of self-expression in favor of
defending public property and having an improved park space.
"Our experience shows that when we turn to courts with such suits, they
do not accept them, arguing that we have no right to make court claims
on public property protection. We are not provided with an opportunity
to defend our rights in the legal domain," explained Grigoryan.
During the Mashtots Park "court hearing" several members of the
environmental movement on the "plaintiff's" side presented their
demands to the municipality for the kiosks to be dismantled, invoking
some provisions of the Armenian Constitution, the Land Code, the laws
related to urban development and environmental protection, as well
as the Aarhus Convention, a U.N. document on access to information,
public participation in decision-making and access to justice in
environmental matters that Armenia is also a signatory to. They
claimed that the actions of the city authorities related to Mashtots
Park violated those statutes.
Sona Ayvazyan, the chair of Transparency International's
Anti-corruption Center, said that under Armenia's legislation,
construction activities in an area occupying more than 1,500 square
meters need to go through environmental assessment first, something
that hasn't been done in the case of Mashtots Park.
"In accordance with the rules of urban development no construction is
allowed to be carried out closer than five meters from a growing tree,
but in this case we see that such a distance is less than a meter,"
she added.
Meanwhile, Yerevan mayor Taron Margaryan stressed on various occasions
that no tree would be cut in the park and that allowing kiosk owners
to install their property there was a forced and temporary measure. He
assured the public that the kiosks would be dismantled in a few years'
time when a larger conservation project for the area, called Old
Yerevan, was due to start.
Still, at the "court" proceedings members of the environmental
initiative group presented a document, dated December 30, 2011,
regarding mayor Margaryan's decision under which a private company,
Eastern Oasis LLC, was granted the right to carry out construction
in an area of 247 square meters at 22/1 Mashtots Blvd. (the territory
of the park) and dispose of it until 2028.
"How can we believe the mayor's assurances that these kiosks are
going to be there for only a couple of years then?" said Grigoryan.
At the same time, green activists said that lately there had also been
some good news that could also further the cause. In particular, they
said they hailed the decision by the Armenian president not to enact
the amendments to the law on environmental impact assessment that
were passed by the National Assembly last month. Environmentalists
argue that the legislation that has now been sent to parliament for
elaboration contains a number of potential risks, including the risk
that the civil society will be kept largely out of the decision-making
process pertaining to environmental issues.
By Lilit Arakelyan
ArmeniaNow
14.03.12 | 11:51
Authorities in Yerevan have until Friday to dismantle the kiosks in
a public garden or see environmentalists take the matter into their
own hands, according to a verdict passed by a green "public court"
in Mashtots Park Tuesday.
Enlarge Photo
With real courts reluctant to accept lawsuits against the decision by
the Yerevan municipality to allow the owners of kiosks that had been
dismantled from the Abovyan Street sidewalk to install their property
in what is listed as the city's green area, dozens of activists of
the environmental movement decided to stage "legal proceedings" of
their own, declaring it to be the first in a series of "public trials"
to defend public property.
Environmentalists threatened that in the absence of an appropriate
decision by the municipality within the next few days they will take
it upon themselves to dismantle the kiosks. They did not elaborate.
Following the event, some members of the movement began a sit-in
action in the venue despite attempts by police to prevent.
Mashtots Park has seen recurrent standoffs between young activists
of the movement and police since early February. In particular, on
several occasions protesters managed to break through police cordons
and enter construction sites to stop construction. None of the action
has turned violent yet.
Activist Artur Grigoryan told ArmeniaNow on Tuesday that holding such
a symbolic 'civil trial' was a means of self-expression in favor of
defending public property and having an improved park space.
"Our experience shows that when we turn to courts with such suits, they
do not accept them, arguing that we have no right to make court claims
on public property protection. We are not provided with an opportunity
to defend our rights in the legal domain," explained Grigoryan.
During the Mashtots Park "court hearing" several members of the
environmental movement on the "plaintiff's" side presented their
demands to the municipality for the kiosks to be dismantled, invoking
some provisions of the Armenian Constitution, the Land Code, the laws
related to urban development and environmental protection, as well
as the Aarhus Convention, a U.N. document on access to information,
public participation in decision-making and access to justice in
environmental matters that Armenia is also a signatory to. They
claimed that the actions of the city authorities related to Mashtots
Park violated those statutes.
Sona Ayvazyan, the chair of Transparency International's
Anti-corruption Center, said that under Armenia's legislation,
construction activities in an area occupying more than 1,500 square
meters need to go through environmental assessment first, something
that hasn't been done in the case of Mashtots Park.
"In accordance with the rules of urban development no construction is
allowed to be carried out closer than five meters from a growing tree,
but in this case we see that such a distance is less than a meter,"
she added.
Meanwhile, Yerevan mayor Taron Margaryan stressed on various occasions
that no tree would be cut in the park and that allowing kiosk owners
to install their property there was a forced and temporary measure. He
assured the public that the kiosks would be dismantled in a few years'
time when a larger conservation project for the area, called Old
Yerevan, was due to start.
Still, at the "court" proceedings members of the environmental
initiative group presented a document, dated December 30, 2011,
regarding mayor Margaryan's decision under which a private company,
Eastern Oasis LLC, was granted the right to carry out construction
in an area of 247 square meters at 22/1 Mashtots Blvd. (the territory
of the park) and dispose of it until 2028.
"How can we believe the mayor's assurances that these kiosks are
going to be there for only a couple of years then?" said Grigoryan.
At the same time, green activists said that lately there had also been
some good news that could also further the cause. In particular, they
said they hailed the decision by the Armenian president not to enact
the amendments to the law on environmental impact assessment that
were passed by the National Assembly last month. Environmentalists
argue that the legislation that has now been sent to parliament for
elaboration contains a number of potential risks, including the risk
that the civil society will be kept largely out of the decision-making
process pertaining to environmental issues.