HOVHANNES IGITIAN: PROBLEMS OF POLITICAL PRISONERS, HOLDING RALLIES, MEDIA FREEDOM, AND DISCLOSURE OF MARCH 1 EVENTS REMAIN UNSOLVED

Noyan Tapan
March 31, 2009

YEREVAN, MARCH 31, NOYAN TAPAN. The report of David Haroutiunian,
the head of the Armenian delegation in PACE, on restating Articles
225 and 300, RA Criminal Code at the PACE Monitoring Committee March
30 meeting was perceived as progress by the Europeans. Hovhannes
Igitian, a Board member of the Armenian National Movement (ANM) party,
expressed such an opinion at the March 31 press conference saying that
the European officials formed an idea about that imaginary progress
thanks to RA Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepian, NA Speaker Hovik
Abrahamian, and D. Haroutiunian. "When PACE Co-rapporteurs came to
A. Hovsepian, he complained of the above mentioned articles and said
that they do not give a possibility to bring normal accusations,"
H. Igitian said. After that, according to him, the Co-rapporteurs
visited H. Abrahamian, as a result of which NA changed the Criminal
Code articles with the help of D. Haroutiunian.

H. Igitian said that the answer to the question of whether progress
was recorded in the direction of establishment of democracy in Armenia
after all should be given by Armenian society. And society, as the
ANM representative emphasized it, knows very well what took place
on March 1, who killed the ten citizens, by whose order, who were in
former RA President Robert Kocharian’s office on February 29, 2008,
during discussions on dispersing the peaceful demonstrants. However,
he did not render it more clear, who were in R. Kocharian’s office.

H. Igitian stated that the four main problems existing in Armenia
remain unsolved: the political prisoners have not been released,
rallies are not permitted, media are not free, those guilty of the
March 1 events have not been officiall disclosed and punished.