MARCH 1 "LOCOMOTIVE GROUP" IS BEING PROCESSED
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[07:18 pm] 04 September, 2008
An interview with Vardan Harutiunian a member of the Committee for the
Protection of Political Prisoners, a former political prisoner himself.
Mr. Harutiunian, how many people of prisoners on the case of March
1 are remained imprisoned in cells?
76 People are under arrest, some of them have been sentenced to
different periods of imprisonment. A group of prisoners has been
separated since their cases should be sent to the Court. That group
to their understanding should be a "Locomotive Group", the leaders
who supposingly conducted March 1.
And that "Locomotive Group" will be blamed and found guilty by the
Court under article 300 of the Criminal Code /appropriation of power/,
won’t they?
As well as all accusations, their accusations will certainly not
be proved in the Court either and preliminary investigation hasn’t
even taken any care of that. They don’t need to ground and prove any
accusation, they just have to proclaim and read the verdict.
Mr. Harutiunian, how do you explain the fact that article 300 is being
dropped away from the accusation of some of the accused (e.g. Gagik
Jhangirian), while others are yet being persecuted with the very
article, e.g. Aleksandre Arzoumanian?
It doesn’t make any sense to find any explanation or logic in the
actions of pre-investigation body. Even Law doesn’t work here. All
is being executed by a phone call. There is a guiding team somewhere
over here which decides which article is the most suited for a certain
individual to be sent to the Court and how many years’ imprisonment
should he get.
Nevertheless, PACE appealed to stop criminal persecution under two
articles, including article 300. But up till now a group of politicians
are being persecuted just for power capture. The authorities don’t
take any actions to dismiss those cases, moreover, as you mentioned,
they are engaged in forming a "locomotive group" to forward the cases
to the Court under that article. How do you estimate the policy of RA
authorities not to satisfy the demands of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe?
They don’t adhere to PACE requirements furthermore they have crossed
all allowed boundaries. It’s not imperative for them to fulfill the
demands of any International or European Institution. It’s much more
essential for them to solve the current issues occurring at a concrete
moment. They think they will condemn people, send them to prisons
and then will see what happens. They don’t view the situation from
a long-term perspective.
We are aware of the health problems of political prisoners.
You are right, among political prisoners there are many whose health
state is critical and most of them have everyday health problems
which need urgent medical treatment but not within the jail. They
have to be taken to city hospitals and get permanent treatment.
And why isn’t that fact getting enough attention by state embodies?
Since our state embodies have taken those people to jails not
because of their fault but for general punishment, they are led by
the principle to punish certain people. They just revenge. They are
not prisoners, but hostages. And as a rule there is never a humane
attitude towards hostages. And it’s what our authorities demonstrate.