Thursday, June 2, 2022
More Armenian Opposition Supporters Prosecuted
• Artak Khulian
Armenia - Police arrest an opposition supporter during a protest outside a
government building in Yerevan, May 30, 2022
Law-enforcement authorities are pressing criminal charges against eight more
participants of anti-government rallies organized by the Armenian opposition for
the past month.
They were among more than a hundred protesters detained on Monday while clashing
with riot police outside a government building in Yerevan.
The clashes broke out after the police did not allow opposition lawmakers
leading hundreds of supporters to enter the building to raise their concerns
with government ministries.
Several protesters claimed to have been beaten up by police officers after being
dragged away and forced into the sprawling building. No policeman has been
prosecuted or suspended in connection with that.
Armenia’s Investigative Committee has indicted instead the eight men, who have
not been released from custody unlike the other detainees. They are accused of
assaulting police officers and refusing to obey their orders.
The arrested suspects include a nephew of former President Serzh Sarkisian and a
son of Surik Khachatrian, a fugitive former governor of Syunik province. They
both deny any wrongdoing.
Opposition leaders likewise reject as politically motivated charges leveled
against these and more than a dozen other supporters arrested since the start on
May 1 of the daily street protests in Yerevan aimed forcing Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian to resign.
The opposition as well as the country’s human rights ombudswoman, Kristine
Grigorian, and some civic activists have accused the police of using
disproportionate force against protesters throughout the month-long
demonstrations.
Armenia - Riot police clash with opposition supporters in Yerevan, May 30, 2022.
Grigorian said on Thursday that her office documented several cases of police
brutality during Monday’s clashes and petitioned the leadership of the national
police service to take appropriate action.
The police claim to have launched internal inquiries into some officers. None of
them has been prosecuted so far.
Justice Minister Karen Andreasian insisted that this fact does not testify to a
cover-up of unlawful police actions. He argued that internal police inquiries
typically last for months.
Andreasian also claimed that barring “several unacceptable incidents” security
forces’ handling of the continuing anti-government protests has been “brilliant
and professional.”
The U.S. ambassador to Armenia, Lynne Tracy, assured reporters on May 20 that
the Armenian government is “taking heed of the need to investigate” the
disproportionate use of force against protesters. She said the protests should
be peaceful and not create “chaos” in the streets.
Armenian Opposition Vows To Continue Anti-Government Protests
• Gayane Saribekian
Armenia - Opposition supporters march through the center of Yerevan, May 28,
2022.
The Armenian opposition will not end or suspend its month-long street protests
despite failing so far to oust Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, one of its
leaders said on Thursday.
Ishkhan Saghatelian, the main speaker at the anti-government protests, insisted
that they are not dying down and are on the contrary gaining momentum.
Armenia’s main opposition groups represented in the parliament have rallied
thousands of supporters on a virtually daily basis since setting up a tent camp
in a central Yerevan square on May 1. They accuse Pashinian of renouncing
Armenian control of Nagorno-Karabakh and making other concessions to Azerbaijan
that will jeopardize the very existence of Armenia.
Pashinian and his political allies dismiss the demands for his resignation. They
say that the opposition has failed to attract popular support for its “civil
disobedience” campaign.
“The main question preoccupying our fellow citizens is how we are going to
achieve regime change,” Saghatelian told reporters. “There is only way to
achieve this … The disobedience actions, the protests must reach a scale that
will make it impossible for the current authorities to cling to power through
the use of brute police force.”
Armenia - Opposition leader Ishkhan Saghatelian appeals to protesters outside
the presidential palace in Yerevan, May 25, 2022.
“It’s now time to increase the number of tents,” he said. “A deep disappointment
awaits all those who have prepared texts to play the blame game in case the
movement doesn’t succeed.”
As part of their campaign, the opposition Hayastan and Pativ Unem blocs drafted
last week a parliamentary resolution rejecting any peace accord that would
restore Azerbaijan’s control over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The pro-government majority in the Armenian parliament mas made clear that it
will boycott and thus thwart an emergency debate on the draft resolution slated
for Friday afternoon. It has accused the opposition of exploiting the Karabakh
conflict for political purposes.
Armenia -- A police officer detains a participant in an anti-government protest
in Yerevan, May 18, 2022.
Saghatelian said that he and other opposition lawmakers will go to the National
Assembly on Friday despite the announced boycott.
In a Facebook post, Saghatelian urged opposition supporters to gather at
Yerevan’s France Square, the site of the protest camp, in time for the scheduled
parliament session. He said the protest leaders “will decide our next actions
depending on processes that will take place in the parliament.”
“Dear compatriots, this is a battle of nerves,” he wrote. “We are now obliged to
stay strong and continue the process of dismantling these authorities.”
Iranian President Discusses Armenia-Azerbaijan Talks With Pashinian
Iran - President Ebrahim Raisi.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Tehran remains opposed to any change in the
“geopolitics of the region” when he discussed Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks
with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian by phone late on Wednesday.
According to an Armenian government statement, Pashinian briefed Raisi on his
May 22 meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hosted by the European
Union’s top official, Charles Michel.
“The interlocutors exchanged views on the opening of regional communications,
the start of delimitation of the state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan,
the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and prospects for the
normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” read the statement.
Raisi was quoted by his office was welcoming “progress” made during the Brussels
summit. He expressed hope that Yerevan and Baku will sort out “the remaining
issues” through mutual respect of each other’s “sovereignty and territorial
integrity.”
“Preserving the geopolitics of the region, including international borders, and
respecting the national sovereignty of countries is emphasized by the Islamic
Republic of Iran,” he said, according to the office.
Aliyev has repeatedly demanded that Armenia open an exterritorial land corridor
that will connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave through Syunik, the sole
Armenian province bordering Iran. Yerevan has rejected these demands. It
maintains that the two sides have only been discussing opening conventional
transport links.
Last October, an influential Iranian cleric accused Aliyev of trying to “cut
Iran’s access to Armenia.” More than 160 members of Iran’s parliament issued
around the same time a joint statement warning against “any geopolitical change
and alteration of the borders of neighboring countries.”
Raisi likewise told Pashinian in January that Tehran supports Armenian
sovereignty over all roads passing through Armenia.
Tajikistan - Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (R) and Armenian Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian meet in Dushanbe, September 17, 2021.
The two leaders also discussed Armenian-Iranian relations during their latest
phone conversation initiated by Pashinian. The Armenian readout of the call said
they specifically touched upon the implementation of joint energy and transport
projects.
“This cooperation will strengthen peace, stability and economic and trade
prosperity in the region,” Raisi was reported to say.
The Iranian president was also quoted by his office as warning against Israel’s
“influence in the region.” Regional countries should exercise “caution” in their
dealings with the Jewish state, he said.
It was not clear whether Raisi referred to Armenia’s recent decision to send its
ambassador back to Israel. Pashinian’s government was criticized by senior
Iranian officials after deciding in 2019 to open an Armenian embassy in Tel Aviv.
Yerevan recalled its ambassador to Israel during the 2020 war in
Nagorno-Karabakh. It thus protested against continuing Israeli arms supplies to
Azerbaijan.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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