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The Kindergarten, the Mockery, the State, and the Requests of Hello
Yerevan and the Armenian National Congress (ANC)
May 14 2013
Lusine Petrossian, the authorized representative of the Hello Yerevan
coalition of parties in the Central Election Commission (CEC), has
filed a petition in the Administrative Court of the Republic of
Armenia, challenging decision no. 107-Ô± of the CEC made on May 11.
Referring to a set of articles of the Principles of Administration and
Administrative Proceedings Act, which had outrageously been violated
by the actions taken and no. 107-Ô± made by the CEC, request is made of
the court to find the above-mentioned decision void and compel the CEC
to discuss the request made by the Hello Yerevan Coalition on May 10
to find the results of the Yerevan City Council election null. The
opposition ANC, in its turn, sent a package of reports on crimes to
the Special Investigative Service (SIS) on Monday, demanding to open
cases, launch a preliminary investigation into the `crimes' in a set
of polling places of Yerevan they had mentioned, find the perpetrators
and hold them accountable. www.aravot.am inquired during a
conversation with attorneys how grounded the above-mentioned requests
were, and, generally, what expectations there were from the
examination of those cases. Attorney Karen Mezhlumyan replied: `If a
crime has been committed and if those allegations are grounded, a case
should be opened. If there is a report on a crime and evidence proving
it must have happened, they should find out as a result of an
investigation whether this incident took place, and who the
masterminds were.' We inquired whether one could notice will on the
part of the Armenian government and judicial system to carry out a
fair examination of those cases. Mr. Mezhlumyan replied: `I am more
inclined to think that there is no will. Otherwise, investigations
would have been launched into the allegations made in press releases
and publications of the mass media. If we look at it from the
practical perspective, it is pointless; there are very poor prospects.
On the other hand, considering political and legal aims, such requests
are to be made, since this is another platform to show the violations
that were committed once again.' Tigran Ter-Yesayan, the director of
Forum, a human rights center, in his turn, said: `The process is
important here, since the content is more or less clear to everyone.
We want this state to mature and such petitions to be heard in
accordance with the procedure. It seems to me that people send a
message to the population most of the time, asking to vote for them
and their teams, but they should take into account the fact that they
will be reminded about their messages tomorrow, be it a presidential
election, a National Assembly election, a city council election, or a
village chief election. You cannot make a choice that they should go
away. Making requests, for how many years the requests will remain
unattended to, whether there will be an investigation, whether it will
have an impact on the process or not; it is just mockery. Is this a
kindergarten or a state? Suppose, the ANC and Hello Yerevan made
requests. So what? A non-commissioned officer will be appointed chief
of police, the chief of police will be appointed Minister of Economy,
the Minister of Economy will be appointed chief inspector of the
region.' We inquired of Armen Khachatryan, the coordinator of the ANC
center for legal assistance, what expectations they had from the SIS,
given the fact that no investigation had been launched into a lot of
publications about electoral fraud in the press. Mr. Khachatryan
stated in response: `The expectation is that the perpetrators will be
prosecuted and will be held accountable. The law doesn't provide for
any other expectations from the SIS. And if we hadn't had
expectations, we wouldn't have made reports. That the SIS served the
government is obvious, but, on the other hand, cases are pending; the
preliminary investigation is in progress. After it is finished, it
will be clear once again whether the SIS has served the government or
if charges regarding obvious crimes are brought to court, it will be
proof that the SIS has performed its duties.' Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
Read more at: http://en.aravot.am/2013/05/14/154286/
© 1998 - 2013 Aravot ` News from Armenia
Yerevan and the Armenian National Congress (ANC)
May 14 2013
Lusine Petrossian, the authorized representative of the Hello Yerevan
coalition of parties in the Central Election Commission (CEC), has
filed a petition in the Administrative Court of the Republic of
Armenia, challenging decision no. 107-Ô± of the CEC made on May 11.
Referring to a set of articles of the Principles of Administration and
Administrative Proceedings Act, which had outrageously been violated
by the actions taken and no. 107-Ô± made by the CEC, request is made of
the court to find the above-mentioned decision void and compel the CEC
to discuss the request made by the Hello Yerevan Coalition on May 10
to find the results of the Yerevan City Council election null. The
opposition ANC, in its turn, sent a package of reports on crimes to
the Special Investigative Service (SIS) on Monday, demanding to open
cases, launch a preliminary investigation into the `crimes' in a set
of polling places of Yerevan they had mentioned, find the perpetrators
and hold them accountable. www.aravot.am inquired during a
conversation with attorneys how grounded the above-mentioned requests
were, and, generally, what expectations there were from the
examination of those cases. Attorney Karen Mezhlumyan replied: `If a
crime has been committed and if those allegations are grounded, a case
should be opened. If there is a report on a crime and evidence proving
it must have happened, they should find out as a result of an
investigation whether this incident took place, and who the
masterminds were.' We inquired whether one could notice will on the
part of the Armenian government and judicial system to carry out a
fair examination of those cases. Mr. Mezhlumyan replied: `I am more
inclined to think that there is no will. Otherwise, investigations
would have been launched into the allegations made in press releases
and publications of the mass media. If we look at it from the
practical perspective, it is pointless; there are very poor prospects.
On the other hand, considering political and legal aims, such requests
are to be made, since this is another platform to show the violations
that were committed once again.' Tigran Ter-Yesayan, the director of
Forum, a human rights center, in his turn, said: `The process is
important here, since the content is more or less clear to everyone.
We want this state to mature and such petitions to be heard in
accordance with the procedure. It seems to me that people send a
message to the population most of the time, asking to vote for them
and their teams, but they should take into account the fact that they
will be reminded about their messages tomorrow, be it a presidential
election, a National Assembly election, a city council election, or a
village chief election. You cannot make a choice that they should go
away. Making requests, for how many years the requests will remain
unattended to, whether there will be an investigation, whether it will
have an impact on the process or not; it is just mockery. Is this a
kindergarten or a state? Suppose, the ANC and Hello Yerevan made
requests. So what? A non-commissioned officer will be appointed chief
of police, the chief of police will be appointed Minister of Economy,
the Minister of Economy will be appointed chief inspector of the
region.' We inquired of Armen Khachatryan, the coordinator of the ANC
center for legal assistance, what expectations they had from the SIS,
given the fact that no investigation had been launched into a lot of
publications about electoral fraud in the press. Mr. Khachatryan
stated in response: `The expectation is that the perpetrators will be
prosecuted and will be held accountable. The law doesn't provide for
any other expectations from the SIS. And if we hadn't had
expectations, we wouldn't have made reports. That the SIS served the
government is obvious, but, on the other hand, cases are pending; the
preliminary investigation is in progress. After it is finished, it
will be clear once again whether the SIS has served the government or
if charges regarding obvious crimes are brought to court, it will be
proof that the SIS has performed its duties.' Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
Read more at: http://en.aravot.am/2013/05/14/154286/
© 1998 - 2013 Aravot ` News from Armenia