ZHIRAYR SEFILIAN DEFENCE COMMITTEES FORMED IN YEREVAN, BEIRUT, MONTREAL, TORONTO AMD LOS ANGELES
Noyan Tapan
Dec 14 2006
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The committee "Support for Zhirayr
Sefilian" was created in Yerevan on December 14. NT was informed from
member of the public initiative "Liberated Territories Protection"
Armen Yeghian that the committee’s tasks, goals and composition will
be announced on December 15.
According to him, committees for defence of Zh. Sefilian are being
formed in the Diaspora. Such committees have already been created
in Beirut, Montreal, Toronto and Los Angeles. The committees staged
protests in front the Armenian embassy in Canada and the Armenian
consulate in Los Angeles, demanding that Zh.
Sefilian be released and granted Armenian citizenship. To recap,
the Lebanese citizen Zhirayr Sefilian, who is the coordinator of the
initiative "Liberated Territories Protection" and commander of the
special Shushi battalion, and Vardan Malkhasian, leading member of
the same initiative, were arrested by the RA National Security Service
on December 10. A criminal case was opened against them based on the
RA Criminal Code’s Article 301 "Public Calls to Change Constitutional
Order by Violence". The court chose a 3-month arrest as a measure of
restraint against them.