Published since 07.2002
Published on May 16, 2008
STATE SECURITY OR POLITICS OF POWER?: PARTY LEADER’S ARREST ILLUSTRATES PERCEIVED DOUBLE STANDARDS
- Tigran Ter-Yesayan, head of the Forum legal center says the most “original and fantastic” among the cases of arrested activists characterized as political prisoners from opposition is the arrest of the head of the New Times Party Aram Karapetyan that says he has been: “arrested for asking question and criticizing.” Karapetyan has been imprisoned for the last 3 months, charged with “making false denunciation” provided by part 2 of article 333 of the Criminal Code of Armenia. The charges in false denunciation have been based on the letters and video records to the former President, Prime Minister and Prosecutor General sent on December 20th [2007] and February 13th [2008], where Karapetyan addressed several questions about domestic political processes, procedures of privatization and the possible cases of corruption connected with them. The accusatory statement mentions: “The contexts of the questions you have addressed contain charges against leaders of the Republic of Armenia.” The major reason for Karapetyan’s arrest has been the question regarding the [possibility of] ceding Meghri [to Azerbaijani in exchange for Lachin] that political analyst and former Member of Parliament Hmayak Hovhannisyan says is a much speculated issue with many publications in the media that served ground for the politician’s arrest. Hovhannisyan calls the created situation “surrealistic, when you neither have right to criticize anyone nor even ask a question.” Karapetyan, citing a controversial article published in Haykakan Zhamanak daily on February 9th 2008 on the speculation to cede Meghri in exchange for Lachin to Azerbaijan, addressed questions to the three above mentioned instances: “Is the news of a comprehensive plan on moving the population of Meghri to other territories with properly developed bus routes, with proper legally, socially, politically and economically grounded documents to realize the deportation and transportation true?” “Is it true proper calculations were done and the Armenian side expressed desire to get $4,328,629,000 from international donors to realize all those things? Is it true that has been the price for Meghri? Were these questions discussed at the National Security Service session in September 1998 that Vazgen Sargsyan and Karen Demirchyan were lawfully opposed, qualifying them as national treason?” Karapetyan was arrested February 24th, by masked law enforcement who forced him and 5 other people accompanying him to lie on the ground and pushed into cars by use of force taking them to the National Security Service. “Was the Doctor of Philosophy a criminal so dangerous as to need to be forced to lie down on the ground in a public place to be detained, to break his glasses, wring his hands and push into the car and keep in prison for 3 months without taking into notice his health problems,” says Karapetyan’s lawyer Harutyun Baghdasaryan. The arrest warrant says the arrested “has made false denunciation with the aim of achieving bringing R. Kocharyan and S. Sargsyan to criminal responsibility supposing to indirectly support another candidate L. Ter-Petrosyan by means of hindering to the natural process of election and creation of an atmosphere of mistrust in the country, realizing the information he has provided is false.” Grigor Harutyunyan, deputy chairman of the People’s Party of Armenia says political persecutions in this case are obvious, because many have talked of the Meghri process but have not been sentenced. “I have talked about it at the National Assembly 8 years ago, the problem bothers 80 percent of the population; does it mean all should be arrested?” asks Harutyunyan. While authorities continuously insist there are no political prisoners in Armenia, Stepan Danielyan, chairman of the Cooperation for Democracy Center asks: “How else should a person arrested for raising a much speculated question of political content be called if not a political prisoner?!” Danielyan says the “Meghri version” has been actively circulating since 2000 when Aravot daily reprinted an article on it from Spiegel magazine. “But it was denied neither then nor now; the former Minister of Foreign Affairs told in his last interview there has been such scenario,” says Danielyan alleging that laws in Armenia operate with double standards and serve as means of punishment, not of defense. “Why hasn’t the former President Robert Kocharyan been charged with false denunciation? He publicly blamed the chairman of the Orinats Yerkir Party Artur Baghdasaryan with high treason. The Prosecutor’s Office did not take this information as grounds and did not bring criminal case against Baghdasaryan despite he was accused of high treason. Moreover, Artur Baghdasaryan was appointed the secretary of the Security Council. In that case Kocharyan had to be detained for false denunciation,” says Danielyan. Lawyer Harutyunyan says the criminal case against Karapetyan is faked to the extent that the investigators can’t proceed with it and have met Karapetyan only twice in 3 months. “All our mediations to change the preventive punishment and to release the so-called accused before the end of the preliminary investigation have been rejected. It’s a violation of human rights. If he is not dangerous to the public, there are no witnesses he can cause damage to, why should a person be arrested?” says Harutyunyan. While Karapetyan was in the prison of the NSS, his party office was searched; computers were confiscated and have not been returned, party council member Hrachya Sarsgyan says. Gayane Hayrapetyan, Karapetyan’s wife says 6 armed and masked people have ransacked their apartment between midnight and 5 a.m. on the night of February 24th. His mother’s health has deteriorated after that. “My husband’s mother has become bed ridden after that humiliating search and the arrest of her son. She is in quite hard condition. And my feelings are ambiguous – I feel pain and pride, but hope the decision will be fair finally,” Karapetyan’s wife told ArmeniaNow. New Times party leader Aram Karapetyan on Thursday night was transferred to the Erebuni medical center with the diagnosis of cardio-vascular deficiency. The cardiologist, docent Armen Gasparyan who examined Karapetyan still the previous day, evaluated his condition as rather worrisome, without excluding the possibility of an infarction or a stroke. According to the doctor, during the last several weeks Karapetyan has had a rather high blood pressure, which, according to the doctor, might lead to an infarction or a stroke. However, spokesperson for the Department of Penitentiaries of the Justice Ministry Arsen Babayan released a statement Friday saying that “the real information about the health condition of Aram Karapetyan is being deliberately and in an organized manner distorted.” According to Babayan, a specialized commission led by doctor of medical sciences Prof. Lusya Mikaelyan that visited the penitentiary examined Aram Karapetyan and concluded that “there is no need to transfer the patient to an inpatient clinic for treatment.” Meanwhile, the investigation body applied to court on Thursday with a petition to have Karapetyan’s pre-trial detention prolonged by another two months.
- Gayane Abrahamyan
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Today in Armenian history- 1812 The Peace Treaty of Bucharest (Romania) is signed between Russia and Turkey. Bessarabia is attached to Russia.
- 1904 Vahan Manooelian is killed in the fighting at Gomer during the Sassoon Rebellion.
- 1926 Inauguration of Yerevan's first hydro-electric power station. Orjonikidze, Aghamali-Oghli, and Eliava give speeches.
- 1980 Commemoration of the 1500 th anniversary of David Anhaght (the Invincible).
- 1981 Death of William Saroyan (writer) in Fresno (USA). He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1940. He was born in 1908.
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