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ARMENIA'S AUTHORITIES CONTINUE 'SAD TRADITIONS' - OPPOSITION MP
tert.am
05.10.12
At a news briefing in Armenia's parliament, Chairman of the Heritage
parliamentary group Ruben Hakobyan spoke of the charges brought
against Armenia's ex-FM Vartan Oskanian and the parliament's decision
to strip him of his parliamentary immunity.
Such sad traditions are continuing in Armenia, he added.
"Sad to say, the authorities have continued the sad traditions, which
have repeatedly recurred in Armenia's parliament and will consistently
mar our country's reputation," Hakobyan said.
He noted the folliowing factors:
First, the authorities ask the parliament for stripping an MP of
his parliamentary immunity before or after the elections. Secondly,
it is always opposition political figures that are stripped of their
immunity, and it is the state that is affected, Hakobyan said.
Hakobyan reminded the journalists of a similar situation in September
1996, when, at the authorities' suggestion, Armenia's parliament
stripped a number of MPs, including him, of their immunity.
On March 4, 2004, opposition MPs were stripped of their immunity and
arrested. That issue was raised in four European resolutions.
"In the last case you cannot but see political connotations. They
waited for two years and could have waited for another four or five
months, until after the presidential election. But they did not,
which shows that it is a political case," Hakobyan said.
"Packages containing Vartan Oskanian's case have been distributed
among PACE members. I think that some will make use of this situation.
I hope the authorities will come to realize the need to dismiss the
case because it will come to no good."
According to him, it is only Vartan Oskanian rather than the Prosperous
Armenia Party (PAP) that is being persecuted. "Oskanian is a political
victim," Hakobyan said.
All the MPs may be treated like Vartan Oskanian, he concluded.
From: Baghdasarian
tert.am
05.10.12
At a news briefing in Armenia's parliament, Chairman of the Heritage
parliamentary group Ruben Hakobyan spoke of the charges brought
against Armenia's ex-FM Vartan Oskanian and the parliament's decision
to strip him of his parliamentary immunity.
Such sad traditions are continuing in Armenia, he added.
"Sad to say, the authorities have continued the sad traditions, which
have repeatedly recurred in Armenia's parliament and will consistently
mar our country's reputation," Hakobyan said.
He noted the folliowing factors:
First, the authorities ask the parliament for stripping an MP of
his parliamentary immunity before or after the elections. Secondly,
it is always opposition political figures that are stripped of their
immunity, and it is the state that is affected, Hakobyan said.
Hakobyan reminded the journalists of a similar situation in September
1996, when, at the authorities' suggestion, Armenia's parliament
stripped a number of MPs, including him, of their immunity.
On March 4, 2004, opposition MPs were stripped of their immunity and
arrested. That issue was raised in four European resolutions.
"In the last case you cannot but see political connotations. They
waited for two years and could have waited for another four or five
months, until after the presidential election. But they did not,
which shows that it is a political case," Hakobyan said.
"Packages containing Vartan Oskanian's case have been distributed
among PACE members. I think that some will make use of this situation.
I hope the authorities will come to realize the need to dismiss the
case because it will come to no good."
According to him, it is only Vartan Oskanian rather than the Prosperous
Armenia Party (PAP) that is being persecuted. "Oskanian is a political
victim," Hakobyan said.
All the MPs may be treated like Vartan Oskanian, he concluded.
From: Baghdasarian