A1 Plus | 21:04:37 | 23-04-2004 | Politics |

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER IS DEMOCRACY DEVOTEE

Armenian national Assembly Speaker Arthur Baghdasryan convened a news
conference today to state he reiterated his stance against persecutions. He
also voiced condemnation at the criminal case instigated against the Justice
alliance.

He said he was also opposed to criminal charges brought against
General-Lieutenant Vagharshak Harutyunyan. Political issues should be solved
only on political field, he said.

Answering journalists’ questions about the April 13 violence against
peaceful demonstrators, Baghdasaryan said neither National Assembly nor the
coalition government was empowered to put pressure on the law enforcement.
The law enforcement bodies are under the president’s direct control, he
says.