Armenian rights champion describes attack on himself as “state terror”

Mediamax news agency, Yerevan
23 Apr 04

YEREVAN

The chairman of the Armenian Helsinki Association, Mikael Danielyan,
said in Yerevan today that he regarded the recent attack on himself as
a manifestation of “state terror directed against the activities of
our organization”.

On the morning of 30 March, unknown people beat Danielyan up outside
his house. On 31 March Armenian President Robert Kocharyan instructed
Prosecutor-General Agvan Ovsepyan to examine all circumstances
regarding the attack on Danielyan and hunt down the perpetrators.

Danielyan told a briefing in Yerevan that Kocharyan’s directive “was
still in the air”. According to Danielyan, “it is no coincidence that
the Prosecutor-General’s Office is taking this case superficially
because the incident was a state directive”.

Danielyan said that “the Armenian authorities do not want to change
their approach to the protection of human rights and do not honour
their international commitments”.