ARMENIA: TEENAGE ACTIVIST ACCUSED OF ASSAULTING POLICE OFFICERS

EurasiaNet
July 14 2009
NY

In a move that bears some resemblance to the recent arrest of
Azerbaijani youth activists, Armenian prosecutors on July 14 charged
a teenage opposition supporter with assaulting police officers.

Fourteen-year-old Aik Gevrokian, son of opposition newspaper Haikakan
Zhamanak’s managing editor Gurbert Gevorkian, was arrested in
Yerevan on July 1 along with two other activists as they handed out
leaflets that promoted an upcoming opposition rally. Police now say
the three activists assaulted a group of police officers and resisted
arrest. Gevorkian and his fellow activists claim the opposite, saying
that the trio was attacked by plainclothes policemen, Armenia Today
news service reported.

Gurbert Gevorkian was quick to describe the arrest of his son
as retribution against his newspaper’s criticism of the Armenian
government, the A1plus news website reported.

Law enforcement authorities in Yerevan have vehemently denied that
politics is playing a role in the case. "My job is to maintain
public order, I’m not concerned with political affiliations," Ashot
Karapetian, chief of Yerevan’s Kentron District police, was quoted
by Armenia Today as saying.
From: Baghdasarian