The National Citizens’ Initiative
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 0033, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 27.16.00, 27.00.03
Fax: (+374 – 10) 52.48.46
Email: info@nci.am
Website:

July 12, 2007

NCI Broaches the Issue of Political Prisoners

Yerevan–The National Citizens’ Initiative (NCI) today convened a public
hearing to examine the matter of political prisoners in Armenia. The meeting
brought together social and political activists, human rights groups,
government officials, representatives of international organizations, MPs,
and media representatives.

NCI coordinator Hovsep Khurshudian welcomed the audience with opening
remarks. "It is a pity that as a result of social apathy–as was the case
during election fraud, lock-down of party headquarters, and infringements
upon free speech–the shameful concept of political prisoner, from which no
one is immune, is growing worse in Armenia," he said.

In her intervention, Heritage Party MP and Armenia’s first ombudswoman
Larisa Alaverdian addressed the ongoing political persecution and the
existence of political prisoners in the Republic. She mentioned that
Heritage’s parliamentary group had recently signed and officially deposited
a certificate of guarantee for the release from custody, pending any trial,
of Alexander Arzoumanian, Zhirair Sefilian, Vardan Malkhasian, and other
political prisoners, and had called for the uprooting of such disgraceful
practice. "By means of these ‘criminal’ cases, which due to the absence of
corpus delicti cannot have legal results, individual men in power are
attempting to ‘teach a lesson’ to the body politic," she maintained.
Alaverdian also expressed a conviction that the political persecutions in
Armenia are carried out with a clearly shaped political will.

In his turn, defense attorney Vahe Grigorian spoke about Article 301 of the
Armenian Criminal Code and the practical application of similar regulations
abroad. He pointed to the fact that since Zhirair Sefilian and his fellow
believers are singled out because of their free expression of thought and
political actions, they meet the status of a political prisoner fully.
"Article 301 of the Armenian Criminal Code, which incidentally has quite a
few similarities with the same number article of the Turkish criminal code,
is somewhat unpredictable because of its selective application." he stated.
"This notorious article does not provide, in Armenia and in Turkey alike, a
clear distinction between the freedom of thought and the call for forcible
seizure of power."

The next speaker, filmmaker Tigran Khzmalian, reflected on the new reality
in Armenia with respect to the challenge of political prisoners. In
Khzmalian’s words, the events which immediately followed the murder of Hrant
Dink came to prove that the societal level in Armenia is even lower than
that in Turkey. "Having the objective of recreating a civil society, we must
elucidate our activity format and approach toward combating legal
arbitrariness," he concluded. Khzmalian also emphasized the need for a new
layout in Armenia-Europe relations.

The remainder of the session was dedicated to an exchange of views and
recommendations among the public figures and policy specialists in
attendance. Noteworthy were interventions by chairman Garnik Margarian of
the Motherland and Honor Party; Grizelda Ghazarian from the Forum of
Intellectuals of Armenia; Heritage MP Stepan Safarian; editor-in-chief Nikol
Pashinian of the Haikakan Zhamanak daily; publicist Hrachia Matevosian;
chairman Mikael Danielian of the Armenian Helsinki Association; Armen
Aghayan of the "Defense of Liberated Territories" public initiative; Mariam
Avagian of the Galina Staravoitova Armenian Historical and Cultural
Foundation; deputy-chairman of the Liberal Progressive Party Edward
Antinian; director Ruben Torosian of the "Supreme Council" NGO; and several
others.

According to the roundtable participants, the actions of the ruling
clique–which is organizing a "criminal coup" and using Article 301 as a
means for persecuting the society to that end–carry the specific objective
of spreading fear, and this would have an adverse effect on the institution
of democratic values in Armenia and the latter’s international standing.
During the exchange of opinions and suggestions, the participants also
proposed the formation of a social commission that would deal with political
prisoners’ issues.

In his closing remarks, Hovsep Khurshudian asserted that "one solution is to
take the body politic out of its state of apathy and implement its potential
to the fullest so that the reprehensible modus operandi of political
persecutions–which now grow like a snowball–can be eradicated without
delay."

The National Citizens’ Initiative is a public non-profit association founded
in December 2001 by Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi K.
Hovannisian, his colleagues, and fellow citizens with the purpose of
realizing the rule of law and overall improvements in the state of the
state, society, and public institutions. The National Citizens’ Initiative
is guided by a Coordinating Council, which includes individual citizens and
representatives of various public, scientific, and educational
establishments. Five commissions on Law and State Administration,
Socioeconomic Issues, Foreign Policy, Spiritual and Cultural Challenges, and
the Youth constitute the vehicles for the Initiative’s work and outreach.

For further information, please call (37410) 27-16-00 or 27-00-03; fax
(37410) 52-48-46; email info@nci.am; or visit

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress