International Herald Tribune, France
March 8 2008

Armenian high court rejects opposition appeal of election results
The Associated PressPublished: March 8, 2008

YEREVAN, Armenia: Armenia’s Constitutional Court on Saturday rejected
an opposition candidate’s appeal of last month’s disputed
presidential election, whose outcome sparked protests and a violent
police response.

Election officials announced that Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian won
the Feb. 19 election, but opponent Levon Ter-Petrosian appealed,
claiming fraud.

The high court on Saturday, rejected that appeal, noting there were
some violations in the election but said they did not affect the
results.

Supporters of Ter-Petrosian, Armenia’s first president following the
Soviet collapse, staged days of protests after the results were
announced. Last Saturday, the government declared a 20-day state of
emergency when clashes with police left eight people dead and more
than 100 injured.

The bloodshed was the worst political crisis to hit this
strategically located, volatile former Soviet republic in nearly a
decade.

It was unclear what Ter-Petrosian plans to do in response to the
court’s ruling, though he has vowed to call new protests after the
state of emergency is lifted in coming weeks.

Arman Musinian, spokesman for Ter-Petrosian, had no immediate comment
on the court ruling.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, meanwhile,
released an update to its observers’ report on the election.

The update was more negative, noting "implausibly high voter turnout"
at some polling stations and "significant procedural errors."

The Foreign Ministry responded to the report, saying "appropriate
steps" had been taken to some violations, but also asserted that
observers erred by using unverified data, and suggested that the
report lacked objectivity.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress