Published since 07.2002
Published on April 04, 2008
GUILTY: TER-PETROSYAN VANADZOR SUPPORTER INTERFERED WITH PROCESS COURT SAYS
- A resident of Vanadzor is to pay 300,000 drams (about $1,000) fine for violations during the February 19 presidential elections in Armenia. The Prosecutor General of the Lori province charged 59-year-old Sofa Kalantaryan, with hindering the work of the precinct electoral commission. Kalanataryan was charged with Article 149 of the Criminal Code of Armenia providing for “hindering voter right, to the work of the electoral commission or people participating in the election in fulfilling their authority.” Kalantaryan is known in Vanadzor as an experienced lecturer, whose connections to politics are limited to one of the Vanadzor-based All-Armenian Movement [representation] founders Vanik Manukyan, her husband. She began partaking in political matters only recently, during the last presidential election, when she supported Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s candidacy during the election. She also was Ter-Petrosyan’s representative at the 30/22 precinct in Vanadzor and appeared within the focus of the precinct commission chairperson’s attention. “Kalantaryan made provocations and hindered our work,” says the chairman of the commission Eduard Vahanyan. Unable to tolerate the activity of the oppositional candidate and control the situation in the precinct Vahanyan called to have Kalantaryan removed from the precinct. In the midday of February 19 Kalantaryan was taken out of the precinct with the help of police officers. Commission chairman Vahanyan also appealed to the Vanadzor police investigative department informing on the provocations and the overall hindering to the commission work on the representative’s side. Kalantaryan says there were political motives for her removal. “They could not endure my presence in the precinct because I would record the mistakes they made,” says Kalantaryan. Vahanyan insisted on his protest in the court: Ter-Petrosyan’s representative hindered the commission’s work and upset the normal voting procedure. Lori Prosecutor Karen Shahbazyan represented the accusing party. According to the prosecutor’s conclusion Ter-Petrosyan’s representative made a number of violations, regularly quarreled with the commission members and voters, tried to take voters’ passports, intervened in the ballot counting process demanding to provide her an opportunity to count them, entered the voting room the day before the voting secretly from the commission members and photographed the safe. Edmon Marukyan and Karen Tumanyan, Kalantaryan’s defenders totally deny the charges and protest particularly against the verdict. They stated at the court their defendant is innocent and used the rights and authority ascribed to candidate’s representative provided by the Electoral Code of Armenia. Tumanyan mentioned his defendant’s rights were violated because of the ignorance of the commission members in the rights and obligations of a candidate representative. “I simply felt responsible for my work,” Kalantaryan said at the court. She says she never took a passport from anyone and instead reported some cases of violations. On Election Day Kalantaryan saw Marine Sosyan, a 20 year old resident of Alaverdi (a neighboring town) who came to vote at the precinct 30/22 in Vanadzor. This aroused suspicions. She asked the chairman of the commission to show the documents proving the right of a citizen registered in Alaverdi to vote in Vanadzor, but was refused. Kalantaryan went after the young woman to take a photograph of here, but someone from Vanadzor took away her camera. Having listened to all the members of the precinct commission, the police officers on duty in the precinct and the voter from Alaverdi, the Court of General Authority recognized charges against Kalantaryan. Kalantaryan’s defenders say the charges are ungrounded. Kalantaryan says she is not going to pay the fine. Her defenders and she will be protesting the verdict in the Appeal Court. If it keeps the decision unchanged Sofa Kalantaryan’s case will be sent to the European Court of Human Rights.
- Naira Bulghadaryan
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Today in Armenian history- 1820 Birth of Catholicos Mkrtich Khrimyan "Hairik" in Van (Western Armenia). He died in 1907.
- 1915 Death of Arshak Vramian, a representative of the Central Committee of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Party.
- 1920 Genocide of the Armenians in Sooshee (Gharabagh).
- 1922 Death of Leopold Favri, benefactor and Swiss-Armenian armenologist. He supported orphanages in the Armenian provinces.
- 1945 Death of Vahan Tekeyan, writer, speaker, and public figure. He was born in 1878.
- 1957 Death of actor Ashot Shaghatoonee. He was born in 1882.
- 1995 Garegin I elected Catholicos of the Armenian Church. He became the 131st Spiritual Leader of Armenian Holy Apostolic Church.
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