OPPOSITION ACTIVISTS INCLUDING CHIEF EDITORS DETAINED IN ARMENIA

Regnum
Oct 23 2007
Russia

On October 23, at about 06:40 p.m. Moscow time, editor-in-chief of
Haykakan Zhamanak Daily, leader of the radical opposition Impeachment
Bloc Nikol Pashinyan, leaders of parties in the bloc, Democratic
Homeland Petros Makeyan and Conservative Party Mikael Hayrapetyan,
editor-in-chief of The Fourth Power newspaper Shogher Matevosyan
as well activists accompanying them were detained in presence of
witnesses in central Yerevan.

The opposition parties’ leaders were detained while they were calling
people to join an opposition rally to support Armenia’s first president
Levon Ter-Petrosyan as presidential contender. They were detained
while handing out their leaflets to people. Law enforcement officers
and policemen staged a scuffle on the site.

It is worth mentioning, at a rally on October 26 sanctioned by the
Yerevan city administration, Levon Ter-Petrosyan is supposed to address
the people with an hour-long speech. On the same day, member of the
ruling coalition, the Republican Party is staging a charge-free
concert. Moreover, on this very day, the Armenian section of an
alternative highway joining Armenia and Iran is planned to be unveiled.