ARMENIAN POLICE ARREST PROXY OF POLITICIAN ENDORSING OPPOSITION CANDIDATE

Aravot
Feb 12 2008
Armenia

"Hakob Hakobian in deep trouble"

The officers of the police division of [Yerevan’s] Malatia-Sebastia
district took Shmavon Galstyan to the police station late last night
[11 February].

Galstyan, who is the director of a textile factory, is a close
associate of National Assembly [parliament] member Hakob Hakobyan,
who in turn is the chairman of the non-governmental organization
Test of Spirit: Union of Volunteers [of Karabakh war veterans]
that announced its endorsement of the first president of Armenia,
Levon Ter-Petrosyan, on 9 February.

The organizations supporting Ter-Petrosyan, including Hakobyan and
Galstyan’s friends, gathered at the police station yesterday, demanding
explanations as to why Galstyan was taken to the police station. Smbat
Ayvazyan, a member of the political council of the [opposition]
Republic party, was among those present. Ayvazyan told Aravot that
this act is a sign of the authorities’ recent nervousness. "They are
clutching at straws, let them do what they wish, we are not afraid, it
only recruits people to the army of our supporters who are sick of the
regime," he said. Many of those gathered there claimed that Shmavonyan
was taken to the police station in order to put pressure on Hakobyan,
who had announced his support for Ter-Petrosyan, and compared it with
the political harassment campaign launched against the directors of
businesses owned by another businessman, Khachik Sukiasyan, as well
as against his associates and relatives. Hakobyan told Aravot that
if Galstyan is not released and if there are attempts to harass and
put pressure on the directors and employees of businesses he owns, he
will stage protest demonstrations to speak about why this is happening.