Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Feb 23 2007

Armenian `Coup Plotter’ Again Remanded In Custody

By Astghik Bedevian

An Armenian appeals court on Friday refused to release a prominent
veteran of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh from jail pending
investigation into his alleged plot to overthrow the country’s
leadership.

The Court of Appeals upheld a February 10 lower court ruling that
allowed investigators from the National Security Service (NSS) to
keep nationalist activist Zhirayr Sefilian in pre-trial custody for
two more months.

Sefilian and a leading member of a small opposition party, Vartan
Malkhasian, were arrested and charged with calling for a `violent
overthrow’ of the government in early December just days after
setting up a new organization opposed to Armenian territorial
concessions to Azerbaijan. The NSS claims that the group, called the
Alliance of Armenian Volunteers (HKH), planned to mount an armed
uprising against the government during this year’s parliamentary
elections.

Both Sefilian, who is a Lebanese citizen of Armenian descent, and
Malkhasian, deny the charges. Armenia’s leading opposition groups
have voiced solidarity with the two suspects, condemning the case as
politically motivated.

The appeals court’s decision came in response to an appeal filed by
Sefilian’s lawyer Vahe Grigorian who maintains that his client will
not hamper the ongoing inquiry if he is set free. NSS officers
claimed the opposite during a three-hour court session that preceded
the ruling. About 40 Sefilian supporters protested outside the court
house in the meantime.

`The court was not impartial, it was extremely biased against
Zhirayr,’ Grigorian told RFE/RL. `It has no grounds to keep him under
arrest.’

The lawyer denounced as `shameful’ the fact that the courts also
refused to free Sefilian on bail on the grounds that he is not an
Armenian national. The Court of Appeals is to consider a similar
petition by Malkhasian’s lawyer later this month.

The main piece of evidence cited by the investigators is a December 2
indoors meeting of about a hundred HKH activists. Addressing them,
Sefilian warned that `we will crack the head of anyone who will dare
to surrender land’ to Azerbaijan. He also urged supporters to
organize themselves before attempting to `solve the matter with
arms.’ Sefilian’s lawyer insists that this alone can not be construed
as a coup attempt.

Also, on December 30 the NSS claimed to have found a massive cache of
weapons and ammunition in the village house of Vahan Aroyan, one of
Sefilian’s former comrades-in-arms. Aroyan has since been kept under
arrest. According to media reports, he has not given any
incriminating testimony against the Lebanese-Armenian.

The defense lawyers say the discovered weapons are irrelevant to the
case, arguing that Aroyan was not involved in Sefilian’s political
activities.