FRENCH-ARMENIAN OPPOSITION ACTIVIST DETAINED IN YEREVAN
Agence France Presse — English
November 10, 2008 Monday
A French-Armenian opposition activist has been detained for making
false accusations after he alleged there was a plot to kill Armenian
President Serzh Sarkisian, a security official told AFP Monday.
Sargis Hatspanian, a French citizen of Armenian descent who is a
supporter of opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian, was detained
Friday and was to be charged Monday, an official with Armenia’s
National Security Service told AFP.
His arrest came after Hatspanian’s claim in an interview with an
opposition newspaper that an attempt was being organised in Armenia
and abroad to kill Sarkisian, which led to the opening of a criminal
investigation.
"Hatspanian was brought in for questioning on Friday and then detained
on charges of making false accusations," said the official, who spoke
on condition of anonymity.
Critics have accused Armenian authorities of persecuting and jailing
political opponents.
Ten people died in post-election unrest last March, when police
violently dispersed Ter-Petrosian supporters rallying for the results
of a February presidential election won by Sarkisian to be overturned.