"AMENDMENTS TO ARTICLES 225 AND 300 WILL NOT PREVENT REPETITION OF MARCH 1 TRAGEDY"
A1+
[06:00 pm] 25 February, 2009
"The proposed amendments to Articles 225 and 300 of Armenia’s Criminal
Code are more tragic and menacing than the events of last March 1-2,"
Armenian parliamentarian Larissa Alaverdyan announced after the first
hearing of the disputed amendments.
"The document lacks political will to lead the country on a legal
path," she said. "The amendments avail the authorities an opportunity
to pursue their ambitions, preferences and goals especially during
the court ruling of the case against seven leading oppositionists."
No other party, with the exception of the Heritage, expressed an
opinion about the amendments. Heritage MP Zaruhy Postanjyan reminded
her fellow colleagues of the time and venue of the deadly clashes
which left ten people dead in Yerevan streets. In fact, the clashes
took place in the streets of Leo and Paronyan, and the amendments do
not clarify the exact venue and participants of the March 1 disorder.
Mrs. Postanjyan cited PACE Resolution 1920 according to which the
cases against people charged under Articles 225 and 300 on groundless
accusation should be discontinued. If you look through the indictments
of the seven oppositionists you will become convinced that they neither
called for mass riots nor killed anyone. Only Miasnik Malkhasyan had
a stick in his hand but no fingerprints were found on it.
The amendments propose solutions to the impasse. At the same time
they enable the Prosecutor General to group the indictments against
our colleagues under Article 225. The detained MPs will be taken from
the courtroom, and the trial will continue without them. Later on
they will be pardoned like our colleagues from the ARF Dashnaktsutyun.
Zaruhy Postanjyan says the amendments do not give a chance to prevent
further mass riots and to avoid repetition of March 1 clashes. She says
the National Assembly had better put the amendments under consideration
after getting the opinion of the Venice Commission.