PRESS RELEASE
The Heritage Party
7 Vazgen Sargsian Street
Yerevan 0010, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 58.08.77, 52.22.38
Fax: (+374 – 10) 54.38.97
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website:
May 29, 2006
Heritage Party Headquarters Reopened by Court Order?
Yerevan–After a delay of months, the central office of the Heritage Party
was finally reopened by officials from the Service for Mandatory Execution
of Judicial Acts (SMEJA) of the Ministry of Justice at 1:00PM today. The
premises had been forcibly closed on March 4, 2006, when party
representatives had witnessed the unlawful replacement, without prior
notice, of the already-smashed lock of the outside door to the party’s
headquarters. This directive had been given by the management of the
Paronian Theater and carried out by its staff under the watchful supervision
of two unidentified men sitting in a nearby vehicle.
In a quick about-face, the SMEJA officials returned to Heritage’s office at
7:00PM the same day, demanding that the staff vacate the premises, in order
that the outside door be resealed. Deeming this reversal in demeanor as
illegal, a mockery of civil rights, contrary to judicial order, and outside
the domain of justice, Raffi Hovannisian refused to leave the office which
had been unlocked by the very same officials just six hours before and in
compliance with the ruling of the court.
On April 14, the Court of First Instance of Yerevan’s Central and
Nork-Marash communities prohibited the defendant theater from taking any
restrictive action in respect of the office in question and the usage of the
property thereof. This ruling, which for unknown reasons was not enforced
for a full month and a half, is in force until the full and final
examination of the case and pending an ultimate verdict by the court. In the
presence of several media representatives, the premises were inspected by
Raffi Hovannisian, attorney Vahagn Grigorian, and officials from SMEJA and
the Heritage Party; the defendant was absent. Promising he would return in
thirty minutes, director Karapet Shahbazian of the Paronian Theater left
immediately after the arrival of the SMEJA officers, but never came back.
The inspection made it clear that the window of the office of Gevorg
Kalenchian, director of the party headquarters, had been opened even though
he had closed it on the evening of March 3. Moreover, one television set and
two computers were turned on and working. The office staff confirmed that
they had not left any electrical equipment in operational mode when leaving
their place of work on March 3.
The officers from SMEJA prepared a report in connection with the inspection,
but did not wait until the computer expert invited by the party had checked
the data stored in the computers. This examination demonstrated that on
March 8, exactly four days after the main office was put under lock and
further access to it was blocked, someone had gained entry to the main
computer where all information regarding the party, its membership and
activities is maintained.
It now becomes evident as to how the “national security” bodies and the
local lackeys of the incumbent presidency were able to obtain relevant
information about the party’s support base nationwide. As is widely known,
the persecution and pressure upon the local divisions of the Heritage Party
have increased since the middle of March, with party members being
threatened and ordered to leave the party. An example of this took place
just recently in the town of Armavir, where the party’s local office manager
Levon Margarian had been taken into custody on May 20. Before being
released he was told that the region’s law enforcement agency knew about the
forthcoming visit of Raffi Hovannisian and other senior party members. The
police demanded that Margarian make sure the meeting did not take place;
otherwise they would use force to disrupt it.
“The sitting administration of the country has proved yet again that it will
not stop at any unlawful measure to prolong its rule for a few more days,
and the security bodies actually uphold not the rights of law-abiding
citizens and the imperative of national security, but rather the personal
well-being of a select few and their maintenance of power,” Kalenchian
stated.
“We are not afraid,” concluded Raffi Hovannisian, “and we will continue our
national citizens’ initiative until we strike justice.”
Founded in 2002, Heritage has regional divisions throughout the land. Its
central headquarters are located at 7 Vazgen Sargsian Street, Yerevan 0010,
Armenia, with telephone contact at (374-10) 580.877, fax at (374-10)
543.897, and email at [email protected]