NO ONE CAN BE ARRESTED IN ARMENIA FOR OPPOSING HANDING LAND TO AZERBAIJAN, ARF MEMBER SAYS
Armenpress
Dec 13 2006
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS: Vahan Hovhanesian from the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (ARF) echoed today law-enforcement authorities
who pressed coup charges against Zhirayr Sefilian, a prominent Lebanese
citizen of Armenian descent, a veteran of the Karabakh war, who was
arrested for allegedly plotting to overthrow Armenia’s government.
Hovhanesian said Sefilian, at least now, is charged with
anti-constitutional activity and there was no word that his arrest
was prompted by his opposition to Armenian concessions to Azerbaijan
in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. A court in Yerevan sentenced
yesterday evening Sefilian to 2-month pre-trial detention contrary
to expectations that he would be deported from the country.
The National Security Service said earlier in a statement that
Sefilian, a veteran of the 1991-1994 war in Karabakh, was planning an
armed uprising against the government during parliamentary elections
due next spring. It said Sefilian is charged with publicly calling
for a "violent change of constitutional order."
The court denied, after a six-hour long hearing, a petition by
several lawmakers to release Sefilian on bail. It also denied
Sefilian’s lawyer’s request that his wife, who is an aide to Lebanese
ambassador to Armenia, be present at the hearing. " I do not think
that anyone in Armenia can be arrested for opposing the handing of
Armenian-controlled regions around the Nagorno-Karabakh republic to
Azerbaijan,’ Hovhanesian said.
"I have not seen anyone who is getting prepared for doing this, but
we have to realize that a long-lasting peace can be achieved only
through a compromised deal," Hovhanesian said, but added that Armenia
has already made the bulk of concessions it could do.
"We did not incorporate Nagorno-Karabakh into the Republic of
Armenia, Karabakh is a different sate, we did not raise the issue
of Nakhichevan. We have made concessions and now the turn is for
Azerbaijan,’ he said.