THEY WANT TO SHUT HIM UP

Haykakan Zhamanak
Nov 8 2008
Armenia

A Karabakh war veteran and Armenian French, Sargis Hatspanyan, was
arrested yesterday [7 November]. This took place after employees
of the National Security Service [NSS] took him to the NSS on the
pretext of questioning him.

After Hatspanyan’s interview to our paper, where he speaks about
a possible attack on [President] Serzh Sargsyan, the NSS opened
a criminal case on the basis of Article 35-305 of the Criminal
Code (preparation for killing a state official). According to our
information, Hatspanyan’s interrogation lasted for a short time at
the NSS and a decision was made quickly to arrest him on suspicion
specified by Article 333 of the Criminal Code (false crime reporting).

However, we believe that the leadership had made the decision to
arrest Hatspanyan earlier, in particular, on the day of publishing
Hatspanyan’s interview in our newspaper. The authorities have been
persecuting Hatspanyan for a long time. During [opposition] rallies
held in February police tried to arrest Hatspanyan a few times on
Freedom Square [venue of round-the-clock opposition protests].

Hatspanyan had been hiding since the events of 1 March [post-election
disturbances in Armenia’s capital Yerevan]. Law-enforcement bodies
focused their attention on him again after he came out of hiding. They
tried to evict him from Armenia at that time. However, due to a lot of
noise, as well as due to Hatspanyan’s being decisive and inflexible,
the authorities had to carry out the eviction process according to
the legal procedure, which requires certain time.

Hatspanyan has played a significant role in the [opposition]
Pan-National Movement, which put the task of isolating him on the
agenda of the authorities. On the other hand, the authorities have
proved with their steps that the information stated in Hatspanyan’s
interview has grounds. He has been isolated for this reason as
well. Otherwise, Hatspanyan could have continued his disclosures
around this issue.