ARMENIA: A POLITICAL PRISONER TO SOME, A CRIMINAL TO OTHERS
Gayane Abrahamyan
EurasiaNet
May 23 2008
NY
More than a month after the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe demanded that Armenia release "all prisoners who did not
commit crimes" during the March 1 political clashes in Yerevan,
few of the seeming political reasons have been released.
The April 16 PACE resolution called on Armenia, as a member of the
Council of Europe, to release "urgently" those who were "detained on
seemingly artificial and politically motivated charges, or who did not
personally commit any violent acts or serious offences in connection
with them." [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Since the resolution’s adoption, only two individuals, Karapet
Rubinian, a former deputy speaker of the National Assembly, who managed
presidential candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian’s campaign in one Yerevan
district, and Tigran Baghdasarian, an opposition activist arrested
for resisting arrest, have regained their freedom.
Rubinian was released pending a later trial; Baghdasarian was freed
on bail. The general prosecutor’s office states that two other
individuals called in for questioning about the events of March 1
have since been arrested.
On May 22, the opposition member facing the longest prison term —
Harutiun Urutian — a campaign manager for Ter-Petrosian in the
northwestern Shirak region — had his original seven-year jail term
reduced by one year by the Court of Appeals, Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty reported.
Two of the more prominent prisoners kept in a so-called "pre-trial
detention" — opposition leader Aram Karapetian and Ter-Petrosian
campaign manager Alexander Arzumanian — have had their detention
prolonged by two months.
The government and opposition are far apart when in comes to defining
who is a political prisoner. Many government officials continue to
insist that the jailed opposition members were taken into custody
purely on suspicion of committing criminal acts, and not as part on
an effort to exact a measure of political revenge. Opposition leaders
dismiss the government claim as patently false. [For background see
the Eurasia Insight archive].
At a May 19 discussion about the PACE resolution, President Serzh
Sarkisian appeared to walk a fine line in addressing the issue, hinting
at a desire to honor the PACE resolution, but making no definitive
statements. "It is important that we be guided by criminal law, and
that there be no political decisions," local media outlets reported
Sarkisian as saying in reference to the dozens of supporters of
opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian who were arrested after March
1. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
"No one who committed a grave crime must go unpunished," he
continued. "However, a person must not be sentenced [to prison]
for their political convictions and beliefs."
As of May 12, 54 individuals of 135 arrested after the March 1
clashes remain in jail; another 30 have been charged, but were
released after signing a document that forbids them from leaving
the country, according to the general prosecutor’s office. March 1
detainees are mostly facing charges of attempting to overthrow the
government through mass disturbances, and with using force against
"representatives of the authorities."
Ter-Petrosian’s office puts the number of detainees at 96, but concedes
that the figure includes people detained during the election campaign.
Back in April, former president Robert Kocharian announced that an
investigative panel would present facts to prove the government’s
assertions concerning the prisoners. To date, however, no conclusive
findings have been released, although special investigators on May 22
issued a statement about the construction of some 80 metal objects
allegedly used by demonstrators to "cause bodily injuries to police
officers and to provoke mass disorders" on March 1.
Controversial court hearings are held almost daily in Yerevan and
other towns; crowds often gather to protest. In Gyumri, Armenia’s
second largest town, opposition members broke courthouse windows
demanding permission to attend a trial. Those who manage to get
into courtrooms often refuse to stand when the judge enters; and the
accused are greeted with applause.
A report released in late April by Armenia’s Human Rights Defender
Armen Harutiunian noted that "society wants to know why the [March
1] prisoners are from the opposition alone." A task force set up
by Harutiunian has visited about 90 of the detainees; reportedly 10
percent of those interviewed claimed that they had been tortured in
police stations, or while being brought into the stations.
Among those who question the imprisonment of these detainees is
political analyst Stepan Grigorian, formerly associated with the
pro-opposition Armat political analysis center. "I am astonished by
the repressive capacities of our country," commented Grigorian.
Artur Sakunts, chairman of the Vanadzor office for the Helsinki
Citizens’ Assembly, a human rights organization, questioned
whether an objective government investigation into the cases was
possible. "They punish people, saying they held a stick in their
hands, they beat a policeman armed with a truncheon and a stun gun,
or they kept 40 bullets at home," Sakunts said. "But who killed those
10 people? Three months have already past, but the relatives of the
victims don’t even hope [to get an answer]." [For background see the
Eurasia Insight archive].
Mikayel Baghdasarian, chairman of a prison watchdog group who has
visited about 70 of the detainees, says that investigations are
dragging along. "My impression is that people are kept under arrest
simply to buy time until things stabilize, and, to intimidate them. In
many cases, the investigator has not even visited them for a month,
and many of them simply don’t know why they are there and why their
arrest keeps being prolonged," Baghdasarian said.
Hunger strikes have been one method taken by detainees to protest
their arrest; friends and relatives often join in. On May 21, a
hunger strike against the detention of New Rights Party leader Aram
Karapetian ended. Strikes to release veterans of the Nagorno-Karabakh
war against Azerbaijan, however, continue.
On May 2, Ter-Petrosian stated that he would agree to talks with the
government "if authorities fulfill the PACE requirements and release
[our] imprisoned friends," but the pledge had little political effect.