ARMENIA: PUSH FOR KOCHARIAN TRIAL — A PUSH FOR PR?
Marianna Grigoryan

EurasiaNet
Aug 6 2008
NY

In a move that could very well hamper rather than promote political
reconciliation in Armenia, the country’s leading opposition politician,
Levon Ter-Petrosian, is mounting a campaign to have former president
Robert Kocharian tried for "heavy crimes" against the Armenian people.

The allegation is connected with the March 1 events in Yerevan,
when at least 10 fatalities resulted from a clash between security
forces and opposition protesters. [For background see the Armenia:
Election 2008 special feature]. Since then, the political healing
process has made scant progress. President Serzh Sargsyan, who was
declared the winner of the controversial presidential election in
February, has made reform promises, but his administration has been
slow to implement reconciliation measures. [For background see the
Eurasia Insight archive]. Ter-Petrosian loyalists have likewise no
let go of hard feelings.

Ter-Petrosian’s new campaign re-airs longstanding opposition grievances
against Kocharian, accusing the former president of an "autocratic"
and "despotic" rule that led to "bloodshed" — allegedly, in 1999,
when gunmen killed eight senior officials in parliament, and, again,
on March 1. [For background, see the Eurasia Insight archive.] The
petition demands "an independent, international inquiry" into
the events of March 1 and that Kocharian be turned "over to the
international court in The Hague."

Neither of the two international courts based in The Hague — the
International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court —
appears to have jurisdiction over any potential case against Kocharian,
however. The International Court of Justice only hears cases brought
against states. While the International Criminal Court can try
individuals for broad-based crimes such as genocide, war crimes or
systematic political persecution (committed after 2002), it cannot
try individuals who are citizens of non-signatory states. Armenia
has not yet signed the 1998 Rome Statute establishing the court.

But while the legal intent may be fuzzy, opposition leaders nonetheless
maintain that that the campaign can possibly trigger enough attention
to secure a hearing. Opposition activists, however, refrain from
providing details.

Ter-Petrosian spokesperson Arman Musinian claims that the campaign has
so far collected more than 100,000 signatures from Yerevan and various
provinces for Kocharian to stand trial. "The signature collection is
continuing. The process is ongoing," Musinian said.

That fact alone is what worries one politician. Azerbaijan, claims
Shavarsh Kocharian, leader of the National Democratic Party, could
use Ter-Petrosian’s drive to bolster its own claims that Armenian
officials were guilty of ethnic cleansing, genocide and war crimes
against Azerbaijanis in the ongoing dispute over the breakaway
territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. "This step … is simply a treachery
and a trump card in the hands of Azerbaijan," Kocharian, no relation
to the former Armenian president, told EurasiaNet.

Meanwhile, Kocharian supporters have reacted scornfully to the
campaign. "Legally, the initiative is crass ignorance. Politically,
it is an absurdity," said parliamentarian Armen Ashotian, a senior
member of the governing Republican Party of Armenia.

One political analyst believes the campaign is intended mainly for
domestic PR purposes. "This is to put pressure on authorities,"
noted independent political analyst Yervand Bozoyan. "There is an
opinion that some power still remains in Robert Kocharian’s hands,
and that the collection of signatures is a sort of event for domestic
consumption. … I don’t think [it] will acquire any serious scale."

Pro-government analyst Eduard Mamikonian agrees. "[W]ith methods like
these, an attempt is made to restore 1988 when, with his influence,
Levon Ter-Petrosian managed to unite the people," Mamikonian said
in reference to the Soviet-era campaign for an independent Armenia,
a drive led by Ter-Petrosian among others. "This time, the opposition
simply tries to keep the ‘tension’ alive. It is a game. The carnival
goes on."

Ter-Petrosian has far from faded from public view since the March 1
events. Opposition rallies and so-called "political walks" continue
in Yerevan; the latest rally, on August 1, drew a crowd in the
thousands. Ter-Petrosian has announced the creation of an Armenian
National Congress, made up of 16 political parties, and continues to
call for Sargsyan’s resignation and fresh elections. The next rally
is scheduled for September 5. While attendance appears to be holding
steady, no noticeable increase in numbers has occurred.

Kocharian, meanwhile, has kept a discreet profile. His activities since
leaving office earlier this year remain unknown, although speculation
runs rife. The recent appearance of an unauthorized, limited-edition
hagiographic survey of Kocharian’s presidency indicates that, for all
appearances, Armenia’s establishment will preserve the ex-president’s
official image as the leader who brought stability after the economic
and political upheavals of Ter-Petrosian’s 1991-1998 term.