ARMENIAN COURT SANCTIONS ARREST OF OPPOSITION LEADER
The Associated Press
International Herald Tribune, France
Dec 12 2006
YEREVAN, Armenia: A court in the Armenian capital sanctioned the
arrest of the head of an opposition group and a fellow activist on
coup plotting charges and ruled Wednesday to keep them in jail.
Zhirair Sefilian, a Lebanese citizen who heads the Association of
Armenian Volunteers, was detained Sunday along with another activist
of the group, Vadan Malkhasian. Authorities accused them of plotting
a coup, making public calls for the government’s ouster and possessing
illegal weapons – charges they denied.
The court on Wednesday ruled to keep both men in jail for two months
pending investigation.
Armen Agaian, a leading member of the same group, said the arrest was
part of authorities’ efforts to muzzle dissent in the run-up to next
year’s parliamentary elections.
Sefilian is a veteran of the 1988-1994 war in the disputed enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh, which ended when Armenia-backed separatists drove
out Azerbaijan’s government forces.