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PREVENTION OF CRIME OR ILLEGALITY?: AUTHORITIES SAY OPPOSITION HARDLINERS ARRESTED TO STAVE OFF "MASS DISTURBANCES"
POLITICS | 08.04.15 | 10:16
By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent
Representatives of the radical opposition Founding Parliament group
Jirair Sefilian, Varuzhan Avetisyan, Gevorg Safaryan, Aram Hakobyan,
Hovhannes Ghazaryan, Pavel Manukyan, Garegin Chukaszyan were detained
on April 7. The Investigative Committee of Armenia the detentions
took place within the framework of a criminal investigation conducted
in connection with possible "mass disturbances" during public events
scheduled for April 24 - the day when the centennial of the Armenian
Genocide will be commemorated.
The Founding Parliament was founded in early 2015 on the basis of
Pre-Parliament, a radical opposition group that had operated for about
two years. It consists of mainly former activists of the Karabakh
movement and war veterans. The Founding Parliament considers that the
situation in Armenia and Karabakh can be corrected primarily through
the change of power. The group has announced plans to begin on April
24 the process of regime change in Armenia and urged people to take
part in the nonstop protests.
The idea of power change could gain popularity in Armenia and the
Founding Parliament would have numerous supporters if the revolution
had not been scheduled for April 24. The members of the Founding
Parliament have failed to explain properly why they have chosen this
day when the Armenian people is going to mark the centenary of the
Ottoman-era Genocide for an internal political events.
It is only assumed that on this day senior leaders of other states
will arrive in Armenia and the Armenian authorities, therefore, are
unlikely to be able to use force against those who make political
demands on that day before the eyes of the world. No political party
or public organization has approved this idea, though.
The society as a whole has not embraced this idea either. The absence
of any large protests over the April 7 arrests is also evidence of
this. In social media and in private conversations many say that the
members of the Founding Parliament should have guessed that for their
calls for regime change on the 100th anniversary of the genocide they
would be neutralized in advance. Many of them themselves said they
had been ready for that.
The report of the Investigative Committee of Armenia notes: besides
the fact that the use of events connected with the 100th anniversary
of the genocide for oen's own purposes, to put it mildly, is far
from being moral, such actions bear the hallmarks of a crime. The
detained activists have been charged with planning to organize
"mass disturbances".
Many Armenian MPs have also said that if the matter concerns violation
of the law, measures must be taken to preserve internal stability. In
particular, this is what MP from the Prosperous Armenia Party Mikael
Melkumyan said.
Ruling Republican Party lawmaker Gagik Melikyan also considers the
activities and calls of the Founding Parliament to be a threat to
statehood and that members of this organization have acted in the
interests of other states. Earlier, the head of the ARF faction Armen
Rustamyan said that the government should take action against those who
try to impede the holding of Genocide commemoration events on April 24.
MP from the Armenian National Congress Levon Zurabyan and Heritage
lawmaker Zaruhi Postanjyan, however, condemned the actions of
the law-enforcement agencies, describing them as persecution of
dissidents. Postanjyan foretold to Serzh Sargsyan the fate of Gaddafi
and Yanukovych, the deposed Libyan and Ukrainian leaders.
After the detention of a number of Founding Parliament members those
remaining at large convened an open press conference. In a statement
released after it they reaffirmed that "the process that will lead
to the removal of the criminal regime will begin on April 24."
http://armenianow.com/news/politics/62124/armenia_founding_parliament_arrests_sefilian_analy sis
From: Baghdasarian
POLITICS | 08.04.15 | 10:16
By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent
Representatives of the radical opposition Founding Parliament group
Jirair Sefilian, Varuzhan Avetisyan, Gevorg Safaryan, Aram Hakobyan,
Hovhannes Ghazaryan, Pavel Manukyan, Garegin Chukaszyan were detained
on April 7. The Investigative Committee of Armenia the detentions
took place within the framework of a criminal investigation conducted
in connection with possible "mass disturbances" during public events
scheduled for April 24 - the day when the centennial of the Armenian
Genocide will be commemorated.
The Founding Parliament was founded in early 2015 on the basis of
Pre-Parliament, a radical opposition group that had operated for about
two years. It consists of mainly former activists of the Karabakh
movement and war veterans. The Founding Parliament considers that the
situation in Armenia and Karabakh can be corrected primarily through
the change of power. The group has announced plans to begin on April
24 the process of regime change in Armenia and urged people to take
part in the nonstop protests.
The idea of power change could gain popularity in Armenia and the
Founding Parliament would have numerous supporters if the revolution
had not been scheduled for April 24. The members of the Founding
Parliament have failed to explain properly why they have chosen this
day when the Armenian people is going to mark the centenary of the
Ottoman-era Genocide for an internal political events.
It is only assumed that on this day senior leaders of other states
will arrive in Armenia and the Armenian authorities, therefore, are
unlikely to be able to use force against those who make political
demands on that day before the eyes of the world. No political party
or public organization has approved this idea, though.
The society as a whole has not embraced this idea either. The absence
of any large protests over the April 7 arrests is also evidence of
this. In social media and in private conversations many say that the
members of the Founding Parliament should have guessed that for their
calls for regime change on the 100th anniversary of the genocide they
would be neutralized in advance. Many of them themselves said they
had been ready for that.
The report of the Investigative Committee of Armenia notes: besides
the fact that the use of events connected with the 100th anniversary
of the genocide for oen's own purposes, to put it mildly, is far
from being moral, such actions bear the hallmarks of a crime. The
detained activists have been charged with planning to organize
"mass disturbances".
Many Armenian MPs have also said that if the matter concerns violation
of the law, measures must be taken to preserve internal stability. In
particular, this is what MP from the Prosperous Armenia Party Mikael
Melkumyan said.
Ruling Republican Party lawmaker Gagik Melikyan also considers the
activities and calls of the Founding Parliament to be a threat to
statehood and that members of this organization have acted in the
interests of other states. Earlier, the head of the ARF faction Armen
Rustamyan said that the government should take action against those who
try to impede the holding of Genocide commemoration events on April 24.
MP from the Armenian National Congress Levon Zurabyan and Heritage
lawmaker Zaruhi Postanjyan, however, condemned the actions of
the law-enforcement agencies, describing them as persecution of
dissidents. Postanjyan foretold to Serzh Sargsyan the fate of Gaddafi
and Yanukovych, the deposed Libyan and Ukrainian leaders.
After the detention of a number of Founding Parliament members those
remaining at large convened an open press conference. In a statement
released after it they reaffirmed that "the process that will lead
to the removal of the criminal regime will begin on April 24."
http://armenianow.com/news/politics/62124/armenia_founding_parliament_arrests_sefilian_analy sis
From: Baghdasarian