KOCHARIAN BLASTS ARMENIAN OMBUDSMAN
Radio Liberty
March 5 2008
Czech Republic
President Robert harshly criticized on Wednesday Armenia’s state
human rights ombudsman, Armen Harutiunian, for questioning the use
of lethal force against thousands of opposition supporters who took
to the streets of Yerevan at the weekend.
In a report released on Monday, Harutiunian said Saturday’s deadly
clashes between security forces and protesters may have been the result
of a violent break-up earlier in the day of the peaceful opposition
sit-in in the city’s Liberty Square.
The Armenian police say Ter-Petrosian and his most ardent supporters
who were camped in the square more 11 days hoarded weapons, ammunition
and even drugs and had to be dispersed.
Harutiunian wondered whether riot police tried to search the square
or issued a warning to the protesters before using force. He said
the much bigger crowd that barricaded itself elsewhere in central
Yerevan and clashed with riot police hours later was not necessarily
controlled by opposition leaders.
"After all, what was the reason for the demonstrators’ disagreement
with both law-enforcers and representatives of Levon Ter-Petrosian’s
campaign team?" he asked. "Maybe the reason for that was the events
that took place in the morning."
The ombudsman also condemned the state-controlled electronic media
for presenting only the official version of events. "Why aren’t they
discussing possible illegalities committed by representatives of
law-enforcement bodies and the issue of holding them accountable?" he
said.
A spokeswoman for Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General, Sona
Truzian, insisted on Wednesday that security forces that confronted
the opposition crowd on Saturday night did not fire at protesters
and themselves came under fire. But she could not explain just how
at least seven protesters died in the standoff, saying only that
circumstances of their deaths are being "meticulously" examined by
law-enforcement authorities.
Kocharian was clearly angered by the ombudsman’s report, telling
journalists that Harutiunian is tarnishing Armenia’s image broad
and "does not understand what he is talking about." He said every
state official must remember that they "work for Armenia and not
for Strasbourg."
Harutiunian had worked as a legal adviser to Kocharian before being
elected as human rights ombudsman by the National Assembly two years
ago. Kocharian himself nominated his candidacy for the job. The
outgoing president said on Wednesday that he now considers the
nomination to be the "most unsuccessful" of his personnel decisions.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
