Houston Chronicle, TX
May 18 2008

Armenian opposition members jailed on coup charges

Bloomberg News

As many as 54 Armenian opposition members remain in prison awaiting
trial on charges including attempting to overthrow the government in
March 1 riots that left eight dead and hundreds injured.

Armenian prosecutors on May 2 charged 91 opposition members with
attempting a coup, illegal use of weapons and creating a
disturbance. The riots followed 11 days of demonstrations after the
Feb. 19 presidential election, in which Serzh Sargsyan defeated Levon
Ter-Petrosyan, a former president. The opposition says the vote was
rigged.

Then-President Robert Kocharyan responded by imposing a 20- day state
of emergency. As many as 106 opposition members, including members of
parliament, were arrested following the clashes between protesters and
riot police.

"Several opposition leaders have been released on bail and told not to
leave the country," Sona Tryzian, a spokeswoman for the Armenian
Prosecutor General’s Office, said last week from the capital Yerevan.

Tryzian said the 54 opposition members "were detained based on clear
evidence that they illegally used weapons during the March rallies."