Interfax, Russia
Dec 19 2008
Armenian government afraid of stronger opposition – Ter-Petrosian
MOSCOW Dec 19
Armenia’s ex-president Levon Ter- Petrosian has dismissed an ongoing
trial over opposition members, whom the authorities accuse of staging
mass riots and a coup attempt, as "political reprisals."
"The authorities are doing everything possible to shoulder their
responsibility for their own crimes – I mean the usurpation of power
through a rigged vote and orders to open fire on peaceful
demonstrators -onto the opposition. The investigation has deliberately
fabricated charges and the court has upheld them cynically and
violating all possible procedural canons," Ter-Petrosian said in an
interview with Russia’s Kommersant newspaper published on Friday.
Asked to assess the objectivity of the trial, the former president
said that "any impartial court would smash all of these charges."
"However, the courts have been ordered to punish, and they are
fulfilling this order "with dignity". All of their guilty verdicts are
groundless," he said.
"The authorities fear that the nationwide opposition movement will
grow stronger. They are using exclusively repressive methods. To all
appearances, they realize how much society hates them. But they do not
see any other methods to remain in power. But this position is very
short-sighted," the former president said.
Only a new election is capable of settling Armenia’s profound
political crisis, he said.
Commenting on the fate of election headquarters chief Alexander
Arzumanian, Ter-Petrosian said that "Arzumanian and the remaining six
defendants are accused of usurping power and organizing mass riots
during which people died." "However, the indictment offers no
evidence," he said.
"The true "guilt" of these people is only that they tried to fight for
the restoration of the constitutional order through peaceful
protests. But the authorities responded by using violence and bloody
reprisals. I would like to stress once again that all these cases were
gravely fabricated," the ex-president said.
The Armenian authorities have failed to fully honor PACE’s Resolutions
1609 and 1620 to ensure freedom of speech and freedom to hold rallies
and assemblies, he said.
"The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s appropriate
commission disagrees with it. It took a decision yesterday to suggest
stripping Armenia’s PACE delegation of its vote. The authorities are
simply imitating the implementation of these resolutions, seeking to
mislead European organizations and to avoid possible sanctions. But it
looks like that the international community’s patience is running
thin," Ter-Petrosian said.
The democratic situation in the country is "worse today than it was
before the elections," the former president said. Before them,
"Armenia had never had political prisoners and political show-trials,"
he added.
Armenia’s opposition led by Ter-Petrosian refused to recognize the
outcome of the country’s February 19, 2008, presidential elections and
staged large-scale protests. Ten people were killed and more than 250
injured when opposition members clashed with police on March 1.
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
