KOCHARIAN: STATE-OF-EMERGENCY MITIGATED TWICE DUE TO QUIET SITUATION IN YEREVAN

ARKA
March 14, 2008

YEREVAN, March 14. /ARKA/. Quiet situation in Yerevan allowed
mitigating the state-of-emergency provisions twice, Armenia’s President
Robert Kocharian said at his meeting with CE Commissioner for Human
Rights Thomas Hammarberg.

Kocharian pointed out the failure to prevent undesirable developments
when the authorities had to take measures to settle the situation.

The sides addressed the status of human rights’ protection in the
country under the state of emergency and stressed the importance of
measures to settle the situation as soon as possible.

On March 1 Armenia’s President imposed a state of emergency on
Yerevan, effective for 20 days, under item 6 paragraph 14 of Article
55, Armenia’s Constitution (threat to the country’s security and
population) in connection with the opposition protest actions
against the outcome of the presidential elections developing into
mass disturbances.

Thursday Armenia’s President Robert Kocharian lifted a number of
restrictions on mass media under state-of-emergency. On March 10 the
President signed a decree on lifting the provisions on "temporary
interruption of activities of parties and other public organizations,
which hinder the elimination of the conditions, which became a reason
for imposing the state of emergency" and "sending out the people,
who violated legal order of the state of emergency and who do not
reside in the zone of its effect".