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ARMENIA'S LEADERS NERVOUS AT OPPOSITION RALLY PLAN
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #724
Feb 21 2014
March 1 demonstration will commemorate post-election violence of 2008.
By Gayane Lazarian - Caucasus CRS Issue 724, 21 Feb 14
Armenia's government is worried about the opposition's plan to mark
the sixth anniversary of massive demonstrations that descended into
bloodshed.
The opposition Armenian National Congress has set March 1 as the date
for commemorating the bloodshed.
On that day in 2008, the government sent in police who used force
to break up opposition rallies protesting against the result of a
presidential election that February in which Serzh Sargsyan - still
in office - was declared the winner. Ten people were reported killed
and scores were injured. The violence shocked Armenians, and the date
is remembered by many.
Although the city government in the capital Yerevan has granted
permission for the demonstration to go ahead, party activists
distributing leaflets to announce it are being arrested.
One incident occurred on the night of 9-10 February, when Vardan
Harutyunyan and nine other ANC activists were detained in the city
centre.
"We were holding a photo of Serzh Sargsyan and a poster saying
'Serzhik is a state traitor'. But the police didn't even give us a
chance to start our action and arrested us," Harutyunyan told reporters
afterwards. "At that point we were walking along the street and we
hadn't done anything yet. But they told us at the police station that
it was a rally and that's why we had been brought in."
All ten activists were released after three hours after being fined
for "improper use of a public space".
On February12, ANC activists were again handing out leaflets when a
group of supporters of the governing Republican Party began harassing
them. Police arrived and detained members of both groups.
Areg Gevorgyan, a board member and head of public affairs at the ANC,
suggested that the apparently chance arrival of Republican Party
supporters had been planned in advance.
"It's quite obvious they're listening in on our [phone] conversations
and following us, and that this was no coincidence," he said.
The ANC issued a statement describing the incident as a "cheap act
of provocation" by an administration scared at the prospect of the
March 1 rally.
For the Republican Party, youth wing leader Karen Avagyan, justified
his colleagues' intervention on the grounds that the leaflets were
offensive.
"Naturally, our young people couldn't just walk past it. No political
force has a right to cross the line in politics. We've let things
like this go for a long time, but from now on, any action like this is
going to get a response," Avagyan told IWPR. "The police will provide
the legal view on this.... I just want to remind everyone that no one
has a right to insult someone and distribute leaflets with this kind
of offensive content.
Gevorgyan said the leaflets the ANC activists were carrying - showing
the president with his face crossed out - were not official party
materials but were instead produced by the activists themselves.
It remains unclear why Armenia's current leaders would be so unnerved
by some minor leafleting.
According to Gevorgyan, "They are well aware that any kind of activity
could lead to a shift in the situation, and to a point where they get
ousted. That's precisely why they are using every possible method to
hinder dissemination of information about the [March 1] rally."
Yervand Bozoyan, head of the Dialogue think-tank, believes the
government is on the defensive on a range of issues - unpopular
decisions to join the Moscow-led Customs Union and to hand over
complete control of the Armenia's gas network to Russian energy giant
Gazprom, plus a pension reform requiring people to make mandatory
contributions. There have been street demonstrations around all
three issues.
"In a situation where there is this kind of social tension, the
authorities naturally become fearful. And that how this sort of thing
happens," he said.
Manvel Sargsyan, academic director at the Armenian Centre for National
and International Studies and a political scientist, says that
attempts to undermine the opposition's publicity campaign actually
magnify its effect rather than defeating it.
"This tactic has been used consistently by the authorities. It's
in their nature, this street-brawling culture," he said. "It's been
going on for some years now."
The February 12 incident got the police even more adverse publicity
when they detained two journalists, Ani Gevorgyan of the Chorrord
Ishkhanutyun newspaper and Sargis Gevorgyan from the news site iLur.am.
Ani Gevorgyan said police first tried to take the reporters' cameras,
then detained them and assaulted her.
"The police continued hitting me on the arms in their car. At the
police station, local chief Artak Poghosyan noticed I was giving an
interview over the phone, and slapped me. Then they took my phone
away."
When the reporters demanded to see a lawyer, they were instead searched
and their cameras were confiscated. They were released later and the
cameras were returned, with the pictures they had taken deleted.
The OSCE's Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja MijatoviÄ~G,
issued a statement of concern about the way the pair had been treated.
"Violence against journalists is unacceptable. It is especially
alarming that police officers responsible to assist and protect
journalists used force against them," MijatoviÄ~G said in a letter
addressed to the Armenian authorities.
Armenia's own human rights ombudsman Karen Andreasyan expressed
similar concerns, noting that obstructing journalists in their work
and using violence against them were "criminal offences deserving
harsh condemnation, especially if such crimes are committed by state
officials".
Following the ombudsman's statement, three separate arms of Armenian
law-enforcement launched investigations into the assault case.
Gayane Lazarian is a reporter for ArmeniaNow.com.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/armenias-leaders-nervous-opposition-rally-plan
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #724
Feb 21 2014
March 1 demonstration will commemorate post-election violence of 2008.
By Gayane Lazarian - Caucasus CRS Issue 724, 21 Feb 14
Armenia's government is worried about the opposition's plan to mark
the sixth anniversary of massive demonstrations that descended into
bloodshed.
The opposition Armenian National Congress has set March 1 as the date
for commemorating the bloodshed.
On that day in 2008, the government sent in police who used force
to break up opposition rallies protesting against the result of a
presidential election that February in which Serzh Sargsyan - still
in office - was declared the winner. Ten people were reported killed
and scores were injured. The violence shocked Armenians, and the date
is remembered by many.
Although the city government in the capital Yerevan has granted
permission for the demonstration to go ahead, party activists
distributing leaflets to announce it are being arrested.
One incident occurred on the night of 9-10 February, when Vardan
Harutyunyan and nine other ANC activists were detained in the city
centre.
"We were holding a photo of Serzh Sargsyan and a poster saying
'Serzhik is a state traitor'. But the police didn't even give us a
chance to start our action and arrested us," Harutyunyan told reporters
afterwards. "At that point we were walking along the street and we
hadn't done anything yet. But they told us at the police station that
it was a rally and that's why we had been brought in."
All ten activists were released after three hours after being fined
for "improper use of a public space".
On February12, ANC activists were again handing out leaflets when a
group of supporters of the governing Republican Party began harassing
them. Police arrived and detained members of both groups.
Areg Gevorgyan, a board member and head of public affairs at the ANC,
suggested that the apparently chance arrival of Republican Party
supporters had been planned in advance.
"It's quite obvious they're listening in on our [phone] conversations
and following us, and that this was no coincidence," he said.
The ANC issued a statement describing the incident as a "cheap act
of provocation" by an administration scared at the prospect of the
March 1 rally.
For the Republican Party, youth wing leader Karen Avagyan, justified
his colleagues' intervention on the grounds that the leaflets were
offensive.
"Naturally, our young people couldn't just walk past it. No political
force has a right to cross the line in politics. We've let things
like this go for a long time, but from now on, any action like this is
going to get a response," Avagyan told IWPR. "The police will provide
the legal view on this.... I just want to remind everyone that no one
has a right to insult someone and distribute leaflets with this kind
of offensive content.
Gevorgyan said the leaflets the ANC activists were carrying - showing
the president with his face crossed out - were not official party
materials but were instead produced by the activists themselves.
It remains unclear why Armenia's current leaders would be so unnerved
by some minor leafleting.
According to Gevorgyan, "They are well aware that any kind of activity
could lead to a shift in the situation, and to a point where they get
ousted. That's precisely why they are using every possible method to
hinder dissemination of information about the [March 1] rally."
Yervand Bozoyan, head of the Dialogue think-tank, believes the
government is on the defensive on a range of issues - unpopular
decisions to join the Moscow-led Customs Union and to hand over
complete control of the Armenia's gas network to Russian energy giant
Gazprom, plus a pension reform requiring people to make mandatory
contributions. There have been street demonstrations around all
three issues.
"In a situation where there is this kind of social tension, the
authorities naturally become fearful. And that how this sort of thing
happens," he said.
Manvel Sargsyan, academic director at the Armenian Centre for National
and International Studies and a political scientist, says that
attempts to undermine the opposition's publicity campaign actually
magnify its effect rather than defeating it.
"This tactic has been used consistently by the authorities. It's
in their nature, this street-brawling culture," he said. "It's been
going on for some years now."
The February 12 incident got the police even more adverse publicity
when they detained two journalists, Ani Gevorgyan of the Chorrord
Ishkhanutyun newspaper and Sargis Gevorgyan from the news site iLur.am.
Ani Gevorgyan said police first tried to take the reporters' cameras,
then detained them and assaulted her.
"The police continued hitting me on the arms in their car. At the
police station, local chief Artak Poghosyan noticed I was giving an
interview over the phone, and slapped me. Then they took my phone
away."
When the reporters demanded to see a lawyer, they were instead searched
and their cameras were confiscated. They were released later and the
cameras were returned, with the pictures they had taken deleted.
The OSCE's Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja MijatoviÄ~G,
issued a statement of concern about the way the pair had been treated.
"Violence against journalists is unacceptable. It is especially
alarming that police officers responsible to assist and protect
journalists used force against them," MijatoviÄ~G said in a letter
addressed to the Armenian authorities.
Armenia's own human rights ombudsman Karen Andreasyan expressed
similar concerns, noting that obstructing journalists in their work
and using violence against them were "criminal offences deserving
harsh condemnation, especially if such crimes are committed by state
officials".
Following the ombudsman's statement, three separate arms of Armenian
law-enforcement launched investigations into the assault case.
Gayane Lazarian is a reporter for ArmeniaNow.com.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/armenias-leaders-nervous-opposition-rally-plan