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US-ARMENIAN ACTIVIST TO CAMPER ACROSS USA TO BUILD AWARENESS OF HIS CAUSE
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2013/03/26/aram-manukyan/
11:11 ~U 26.03.13
Ara Manoogian hadn't eaten from March 17, and he was prepared to go
without food for weeks, or even months, more.
The Burbank Leader writes that camped in an RV parked outside Rep.
Adam Schiff's Burbank office, Manoogian said his hunger strike was
in protest of President Obama's congratulatory remarks toward the
re-elected president of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, amid allegations
of election fraud and bribery following what Manoogian called a
corrupt regime.
"When the president congratulates something, that means you, me and
everybody else that's an American citizen is congratulating this
person," Manoogian said, adding that Sargsyan is using the remarks
to legitimize his election. "Our values are being manipulated and
misrepresented to other countries."
Presidential runner-up Raffi Hovanissian also declared a hunger strike
March 10 in protest of the official election results.
Manoogian - Burbank resident - lived in Armenia for eight years,
but moved back to the United States in 2005 after his work as a
human rights activist and investigative reporter left him in fear of
his safety.
"That is who Serzh Sargsyan is," Manoogian said.
Via a letters sent through Schiff's office, Manoogian is asking Obama
to retract his congratulations.
"Our office has passed Mr. Manoogian's comments and concerns to the
White House and State Department, as we have done when others have
raised concerns about administration actions," said Schiff spokesman
Patrick Boland in an email. "We will, of course, alert him when we
receive a response."
Meanwhile, he plans to take his camper across the country to Washington
D.C. to build awareness and political pressure while stopping in
different cities to educate people of his cause along the way.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2013/03/26/aram-manukyan/
11:11 ~U 26.03.13
Ara Manoogian hadn't eaten from March 17, and he was prepared to go
without food for weeks, or even months, more.
The Burbank Leader writes that camped in an RV parked outside Rep.
Adam Schiff's Burbank office, Manoogian said his hunger strike was
in protest of President Obama's congratulatory remarks toward the
re-elected president of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, amid allegations
of election fraud and bribery following what Manoogian called a
corrupt regime.
"When the president congratulates something, that means you, me and
everybody else that's an American citizen is congratulating this
person," Manoogian said, adding that Sargsyan is using the remarks
to legitimize his election. "Our values are being manipulated and
misrepresented to other countries."
Presidential runner-up Raffi Hovanissian also declared a hunger strike
March 10 in protest of the official election results.
Manoogian - Burbank resident - lived in Armenia for eight years,
but moved back to the United States in 2005 after his work as a
human rights activist and investigative reporter left him in fear of
his safety.
"That is who Serzh Sargsyan is," Manoogian said.
Via a letters sent through Schiff's office, Manoogian is asking Obama
to retract his congratulations.
"Our office has passed Mr. Manoogian's comments and concerns to the
White House and State Department, as we have done when others have
raised concerns about administration actions," said Schiff spokesman
Patrick Boland in an email. "We will, of course, alert him when we
receive a response."
Meanwhile, he plans to take his camper across the country to Washington
D.C. to build awareness and political pressure while stopping in
different cities to educate people of his cause along the way.