MEMBERS OF "HERITAGE" FACTION HARSHLY CRITICIZED AMENDMENTS TO THE LAW ON RALLIES AND DEMONSTRATIONS
Mediamax
March 19, 2008
Yerevan /Mediamax/. Members of the oppositional "Heritage" faction
harshly criticized today the amendments, approved by the Armenian
parliament, to the law "On gatherings, rallies, processions and
demonstrations".
Mediamax reports that, speaking at a news conference in Yerevan
today, member of "Heritage" faction Larisa Alaverdian stated that
"passing the political and civil liberties under the jurisdiction
of law-enforcement bodies, the authorities automatically politicized
the activities of law-enforcement structures".
According to her, the cornerstone of the country’s security is the
protection of human rights, which are violated by the approval of
the new edition of the law.
The Secretary of "Heritage" faction Stepan Safarian stated that this
step is meant to "frighten the oppositional-oriented part of the
society". According to him, by its decision, the Armenian parliament
"put an equal’s sign between the international terrorism and its
own population, which expresses discontent with the results of
presidential elections".
He stated that an anti-democratic law started functioning in Armenia,
"the real authors of which are the representatives of the President’s
apparatus, and not the 70 MPs, who voted for the approval of the
amendments".