DASHNAK LEADER CONDEMNS OPPOSITIONIST’S BEATING
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Oct 10 2006

A leader of the governing Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun), Vahan Hovannisian, on Tuesday added his voice
to condemnations of the weekend beating of a prominent opposition
politician, saying that it was politically motivated.

Suren Abrahamian, a senior member of the opposition Hanrapetutyun
(Republic) who served as interior minister in 1999, was reportedly
attacked near his house in Yerevan by a group of unknown men.

Hovannisian, who is also a deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament,
condemned the violence as a "terrible and ugly phenomenon." "This
attack on Suren Abrahamian had to do with political activities,"
he told journalists. "This is not only unacceptable but condemnable,
and this must be eliminated from our political life."

Hanrapetutyun leaders have implicitly alleged that the attack may have
been the work of Prime Minister Andranik Markarian, who was recently
branded a "criminal element" by Abrahamian. The latter says that the
attackers demanded that he apologize to their unspecified boss.

Markarian dismissed such suspicions on Monday amid lingering opposition
allegations that his Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) is increasingly
relying on controversial government-connected businessmen regarded as
"criminal elements" by the opposition.

Dashnaktsutyun refers to them as "apolitical forces." Bodyguards
of those businessmen have been widely blamed for similar attacks on
other oppositionists as well as journalists critical of the government.

According to Hovannisian, Abrahamian’s beating underscored the need
for a special law that would strictly regulate private security
services. He complained that the government is reluctant to back a
relevant bill drafted by Dashnaktsutyun.
From: Baghdasarian