OPPOSITION CONSIDERS THAT AUTHORITIES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MARCH 1 EVENTS
Noyan Tapan
March 21, 2008
YEREVAN, MARCH 21, NOYAN TAPAN. "After the March 1 events the
political struggle grew into the struggle of the whole people against
the established dictatorship," Levon Zurabian, the representative of
Levon Ter-Petrosian’s preelection headquarters, stated at the March 21
press conference held by the National Press Club within the framework
of the Topical Subject program.
According to him, on March 1, the ruling regime, which shot at its own
people, "tore off the mask from itself" and completely uncovered its
real face, as a result of which even people supporting the authorities
got absolutely disappointed in them and passed over to the national
movement.
According to him, the opposition considers that the very authorities
are responsible for the March 1 events.
L. Zurabian said that under the conditions of repressions, which are
going on, when many opposition activists are arrested, the opposition’s
possibilities are limited, including in holding of an independent
investigation of the March 1 events in Yerevan. Meanwhile he said that
the opposition is collecting all necessary evidence and materials. "We
blame the authorities for the victims. It is impossible to conduct
a dialogue with a force, which beats you with one hand and tries to
hold out the other for conducting a dialogue. Our first condition
is that the authorities should release from custody all our friends,
political prisoners," Levon Zurabian said.
In his opinion, in spite of the authorities’ wish to perpetuate the
regime of state of emergency, people will not get reconciled with
the existing regime, the actions of which are aimed at suppressing
the people’s freedom.
He assured that the public is going to carry out struggle against
dictatorship by holding different actions of protest. Thus, in his
words, non-governmental organizations have become very active lately,
many of them took a civil position. "The most important result of
our struggle is that indeed society has been formed in Armenia, for
which freedom is a sweet word. Thanks to that awakening the people
will manage to get rid of that regime soon."