CHARGES AGAINST YOUNG ACTIVIST UPGRADED; DEMONSTRATION CALLED FOR TOMORROW
n/
2009/08/18 | 17:03
Society
In the last two days, the Erebuni Investigative Unit of the RoA Police
Department’s Criminal Affairs Division has upgraded its indictment
against Mariam Soukhudyan, a young environmental activist.
On August 13, Mariam Soukhudyan received a subpoena to appear in
court two days later to testify on the charge of "slander". But on
August 15 she was told that the charge had been changed to one of
"false denunciation for personal gain"; a charge that punishable by
up to five years imprisonment.
According to the environmental NGO "Ecolur", Mariam Soukhudyan has
been ordered to appear in court on August 19.
The "false denunciation" charge stems from a "Haylur" TV broadcast on
November 13, 2008, in which a female ward of Boarding School No. 11 in
Yerevan’s Nubarashen suburb alleged sexual harassment by one of their
teachers, Levon Avagian. "According to the stories from the girls,
there was at least one case of rape," it charged.
Soukhudyan was among about a dozen young people who worked as
volunteers at the Boarding School No. 11 in Yerevan’s Nubarashen
suburb in April-June 2008 as part of a United Nations project to
boost educational standards in Armenia and recorded one of the girl’s
allegations. She took the report to the media.
A demonstration will take place outside the Erebuni Investigative Unit
(162 Movses Khorenatsi Street) tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. to protest the
charges levied against the young activist.