Security service tells Lebanese stop criticism or be expelled from Armenia

Iravunk, Yerevan
24 Mar 06

Text of report by Armenian newspaper Iravunk on 24 March headlined
“Will Zhirayr Sefilyan be expelled from Armenia?”

According to a source close to the National Security Service [NSS], a
coordinator of the liberated territories protection public initiative
and citizen of Lebanon, (?Zhirayr Sefilyan), was yesterday summoned to
the NSS where he was told that he might be expelled from Armenia. He
was questioned there for several hours together with the secretary of
the public initiative, Armen Egyan.

Top security officers of the NSS told them to dwell on the issue of
Javakhk [Samtskhe-Javakheti] and not to criticize too harshly [Defence
Minister] Serzh Sarkisyan. They threatened to expel Sefilyan from
Armenia by using the fact that the authorities had not granted him
Armenian citizenship.

The source added that a few days ago certain members of the Javakhk
council had also been summoned to the NSS, but their identities were
not known.