INVESTIGATION OF YEREVAN RIOTS HAS NO POLITICAL FLAVOR

Interfax News Agency
July 14 2008
Russia

The Armenian authorities will not use the investigation of the March
1 riots in Yerevan as a pretext to put pressure on the opposition,
presidential office head Ovik Abramian told Council of Europe Human
Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg.

The Armenian administration intends to investigate the March 1 riots
and punish the culprits. There will be no persecution for political
reasons, he said.

The interlocutors discussed Armenia’s compliance with resolutions 1609
and 1620 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE),
the office told Interfax. They considered the legal status of detainees
and the format of the parliamentary commission investigating the riots.