Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Sept 29 2004

FREEING OF KARABAKH MILITARY CHIEF STIRS DEBATE

There’s heated speculation about the significance of the pardoning of
a leading Armenian commander.

By Karine Ohanian in Stepanakert

News of the release from prison late last month of Karabakh Armenian
military leader Samvel Babayan came out of the blue and has provoked
a lively debate within both Karabakh and Armenia – stoked by the fact
that Babayan himself has refused to comment on his unexpected freedom.

Babayan has a mixed reputation amongst Armenians. When the Karabakh
war ended in 1994, he was widely lauded as a military hero and the
commander of the entity’s Armenian army. After the war, however,
he became not only the military leader but the most powerful man
in Karabakh overall, controlling its government and economy. His
accumulation of more and more power for himself and his despotic
tendencies made him many enemies.

Then in 2000 he was accused of organising the assassination attempt
on Karabakh president Arkady Gukasian in which Gukasian was wounded.
In January 2001, Babayan was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment.

Ever since he went into jail, there have been rumours on the eve of
every national holiday that Babayan would be freed. But his actual
release came as a surprise. On September 17, Gukasian published a
decree saying 13 prisoners in Karabakh had been fully pardoned and
22 partially pardoned. Amongst those named was Babayan.

Babayan himself did not stay in Karabakh for long but left shortly
afterwards for Yerevan. People close to him say he intends to leave the
former Soviet Union to have treatment for his health, which suffered
while he was in captivity.

Neither Gukasian nor any other Karabakh officials have commented
publicly on the pardon. A spokesman in the presidential press service
told IWPR only that Babayan had been freed because of his “service
to the motherland” and because he had served more than a third of
his sentence, which made him eligible for release.

For a prisoner to be pardoned he must first write a letter formally
request to be forgiven. There has been much speculation in Karabakh
as to whether such a letter was written. The Aravot newspaper
reported that the letter was written not by Babayan himself, but by
his mother. Aravot also reported that the former commander had been
banned from holding office in Nagorny Karabakh for another five years.

Iravunk newspaper in Yerevan reported that the decree had been signed
on September 2, but that the authorities in Armenia and Karabakh
spent two weeks discussing what should be the terms of his release.
Iravunk said that in the end no final agreement was reached.

With nothing been said in public, Karabakh Armenians have been actively
debating among themselves whether the right decision had been made
to set Babayan free.

“The law is the law,” said policeman Ashot Gabrielian. “He ought to
have served out his full term. I think that by pardoning Babayan,
the president simply wanted to improve his ratings with the public
and show he is a humane and forgiving ruler.”

A former soldier Leonid Sogomonian said of Gukasian’s decision,
“He simply understood that Babayan had more positive virtues than he
made mistakes.”

“I think that the pardon was not on the wishes of Gukasian himself
but came as a result of pressure from opposition forces in Armenia,”
said another veteran Vardges Gasparian. “But all the same I would
like to believe the former commander did not spend so many years
in prison in vain and that he is aware now of all those actions he
committed which were unacceptable.”

Another subject of lively discussion is what Babayan’s freedom means
for the unrecognised republic now and whether the former defence
minister has a political future.

“I think that a definite condition of the pardoning of Babayan
was that Gukasian made him a demand – his freedom in exchange for
his neutralisation as a political figure,” said businessman Artur
Karapetian.

“Maybe this means war?” said pensioner Valena Grigorian. “They didn’t
just release him for nothing. That means they need him again.”

A local analyst in Karabakh ,who asked not to be named, said, “It’s
unlikely that Gukasian was acting under pressure from one group or
another. Actually I think Babayan’s release is connected with the
latest twists in the Karabakh peace process.

“I don’t think that Samvel Babayan will make himself known as a
political figure again in the near future. He needs time to look
around and get used to the situation because after all a lot has
changed here in recent years. But I don’t think that he will disappear
without trace either.”

Karine Ohanian is a freelance journalist in Nagorny Karabakh.