Aravot, Armenia
Jan 17 2009

Armenian police reportedly beat protesters over opposition trial

Armenian police on 16 January beat journalists and relatives and
supporters of seven opposition figures charged with organizing March
2008 post-election riots in Yerevan.

The supporters of the oppositionists planned to march to the
Prosecutor-General’s Office from the court where the trial was to be
held, but instead they walked there in groups as policemen did not
allow them to hold a march. The protesters, however, managed to get to
a park near the Prosecutor-General’s Office, where they demanded the
immediate release of the arrested, chanting "Freedom to political
prisoners".

The trial session, held for the fifth time on 16 January, was
postponed once again by the judge because the defendants did not stand
up when the judge entered the courtroom. Representatives of the
opposition Armenian National Congress believe that the authorities
postponed the trial to 30 January to enable the government to identify
its strategy regarding the trial after the 26 January session of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) was over.

In a 17 December draft resolution, the PACE said it might suspend
Armenia’s voting right if the country failed to release "political
prisoners".

The daily reported a large presence of police near the court building,
who tried to move people away from the building and prevent them
holding a march. Slight skirmishes between policemen and protesters
took place as a result. A journalist of the opposition Chorrord
Ishkhanutyun daily, Taguhi Tovmasyan, received several blows. A photo
correspondent, Gagik Shamshyan, received a brain concussion as he was
hit by a policeman.

The opposition Armenian National Congress condemned the authorities’
"vandalism against peaceful rally participants" on 16 January. The
statement said that by postponing the trial to a date that succeeds
the PACE session the government has proven that the trial is not a
"legal, but a political one" and the arrested people are "political
prisoners".

[translated from Armenian]
From: Baghdasarian