ARMENIAN OPPOSITION DEFIANT, VOWS NEW PROTESTS

The Epoch Times Ireland
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June 20 2008
Ireland

YEREVAN–Thousands of opposition supporters protested in Armenia on
Friday demanding a rerun of the presidential election, in the first
demonstration since clashes with government forces in March killed
10 people.

The opposition accuses Armenian authorities of ballot-stuffing and
intimidation in the Feb. 19 election won by Serzh Sarksyan, an ally
of outgoing president Robert Kocharyan.

His main challenger, former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, was placed
temporarily under house arrest after the election.

Addressing about 8,000 of his supporters on Friday, Ter-Petrosyan said
he would continue to fight for the presidency and vowed fresh protests.

"This criminal group … shot at its own people," he told the crowd in
central Yerevan, referring to the March 1 clashes between opposition
supporters and police in which 200 people were also injured.

"Be sure, sooner or later these criminals will be brought to justice
in front of its nation," he said.

"We will fight till the victorious end!" the crowd chanted.

"The only way out of this situation is to hold snap presidential and
parliamentary elections," Ter-Petrosyan said. "The people will stand
their ground."

He said the opposition would hold its next rally on July 4.

Ter-Petrosyan’s All-Armenian National Movement boycotted a
parliamentary election in May last year.

Armenia, an ancient Christian nation of 3.2 million, lies in a Caucasus
mountains region that is emerging as a key route for pumping Caspian
Sea oil and gas to world markets, although the nation has no pipelines
of its own.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) urged
Armenia’s political forces in April "to initiate an open and
constructive dialogue" and called for "an independent, transparent
and credible inquiry into the March 1 events".

"Progress made so far by the Armenian authorities in meeting
the Assembly’s demands following the February 2008 post-election
violence has been judged insufficient," the PACE said in a statement
in Strasbourg on Thursday.

The PACE also urged the authorities to guarantee a proper status and
appropriate rights to the opposition, to reform the electoral process
and ensure state-controlled media are free from any political interest.

Freedom of assembly, establishment of a truly independent judiciary
and an end to arbitrary arrests were other demands.

Following the February election, western observers said polling was
broadly in line with Armenia’s international commitments but further
improvements were needed.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress