NO INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION CONSIDERS ZHIRAYR SEFILIAN AS POLITICAL PRISONER FOR PRESENT
Noyan Tapan
Apr 20 2007
YEREVAN, APRIL 20, NOYAN TAPAN. "No international human rights
organization considers Zhirayr Sefilian as a political prisoner for
the present: in any case, we do not have such facts," Armen Aghayan,
member of In Defence of Liberated Territories public-political
initiative headed by Z. Sefilian, said in his interview to Noyan
Tapan. In his words, the United States use dual standards in issues
of protection of human rights. In particular, in the last report of
U.S. State Department editor-in-chief of Zhamanak Yerevan newspaper,
Arman Babajanian was recognized as a political prisoner, but Zhirayr
Sefilian and Vardan Malkhasian abruptly speaking against the American
viewpoint of ceding territories in Nagorno Karabakh were not recognized
as political prisoners.
In A. Aghayan’s words, only OSCE observers fixed that V. Malkhasian
being a candidate for deputacy was arrested for political reasons.
Commenting upon the statement of Chairman of Dashink (Alliance) Party,
Samvel Babayan made at the April 19 meeting with electors, according
to which allegedly Z. Sefilian was arrested because S. Babayan had
offered cooperation to the latter trying to consolidate around himself
"people having fought in the war, including Sefilian," A. Aghayan said
that before being arrested Z. Sefilian had cooperated with S. Babayan
for several months. A. Aghayan did not render more concrete around
what issues that cooperation was. In his words, he is not aware of
all details, and "if Samvel Babayan made such a statement, so it had
been so."
A. Aghayan considered it improbable that the authorities will be able
to keep Z. Sefilian in arrest up to the presidential elections.