Author: Tambiyan Samvel

ARMENIA: RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED AS PRESIDENT DECLARES EMERGENCY

CPJ Press Freedom Online
03mar08na.html
March 3 2008
NY

New York, March 3, 2008-Armenian authorities should immediately
lift restrictions on independent news reporting and the censorship
of independent news Web sites, steps imposed when President Robert
Kocharian declared a state of emergency on Saturday, the Committee
to Protect Journalists said today.

Kocharian declared a 20-day state of emergency after clashes between
government troops and opposition supporters in the capital, Yereven,
resulted in eight deaths and more than 100 injuries, according to
international press reports. Protesters claimed that vote-rigging
marred the February 19 presidential election that ended in victory
for Kocharian’s hand-picked successor, Serzh Sarkisian. Hundreds of
troops were deployed in Yerevan to clamp down on the demonstrations.

The state of emergency also banned public gatherings, set travel
restrictions, and gave police expanded search powers, according to
international news accounts.

As part of the declaration, Kocharian ordered media outlets to cite
only official sources when reporting on national politics. Several
independent and opposition news Web sites that operate under Armenian
domain names were also blocked today. They included Web sites run by
the pro-opposition news agency A1+ and the independent newspapers
Aravot (Morning) and Aikakan Zhamanak (Armenian Time), according
to the news agency Armenia Today. Armenia Today reported that local
Internet users received a message that said: "Warning! As ordered by
a state decree, some informational Web sites will not be accessible."

The Armenian Service of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
(RFE/RL) was blocked within the country.

"We’re alarmed by this blatant attempt to censor news of the disputed
election," CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. "We call on Armenian
authorities to withdraw the ban on independent newsgathering and
dissemination, and restore access to independent and opposition media."

Sarkisian took about 53 percent of the vote on February 19, according
to official results, and is due to take office in April. Rival
candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian, who was Armenia’s first post-Soviet
president, contested the results and claimed the election was rigged,
according to RFE/RL.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which
monitored the election, said the vote was mostly in conformance with
international standards. But OSCE monitors noted flaws in vote-counting
and said officials blurred partisan and governmental interests.

Up to 20,000 Ter-Petrosian supporters began rallying in Yerevan on
February 21; their skepticism about the results was fanned when two
Central Elections Commission members and a deputy prosecutor general
publicly questioned the fairness of the vote, RFE/RL reported.

Authorities deployed police when Ter-Petrosian’s supporters built a
tent camp on the capital’s Freedom Square and groups of protesters
staged rallies in front of different government buildings, the news
agency Regnum reported. The stand-off reached its peak on Saturday
morning when police, claiming that they had received reports of alleged
arms distribution and coup plotting, started dismantling the tents,
according to local press reports.

Angered protesters, in turn, attacked police with metal rods
and Molotov cocktails, burned cars, and looted local shops,
Reutersreported. The protests calmed when Ter-Petrosian called on
Sunday for a halt to the violence, Regnum said.

SEYRAN OHANYAN: "NO MURDERS AND INJURED IN ARMED FORCES"

Panorama.am
15:32 04/03/2008

There are no murders and injured from the armed forces, said
General-lieutenant Seyran Ohanyan the head of armed forces. He
thanked people for treating the extraordinary situation with great
understanding and tolerance. "Today the armed forces together the
police manages to control the situation and establish peace in the
city," he said.

S. Ohanyan mentioned that after the army subdivisions were included
in the process there were no extraordinary events. According to the
head of armed forces, the army subdivisions are from reserved division
and the first line units are ready to control and protect the boarders
of our country.

Ohanyan said that they do not carry any control in the regions as it
is ordered to the legal bodies.

POLICE AND PROTESTERS CLASH IN ARMENIA, 8 DEAD

ABC Online
March 2 2008
Australia

Armenian officials say eight people were killed overnight during
fierce clashes between police and protesters in the capital Yerevan.

The government has deployed the army to the streets to prevent further
protests by opposition supporters who claim last month’s presidential
election was rigged.

The clashes started when riot police moved in to disperse thousands
of opposition supporters who had set up barricades in the city centre.

The protesters fought back but it is not yet clear how they exactly
died.

But opposition leaders insist the use of force by the authorities
was unacceptable.

Since the state of emergency was imposed the army has been patrolling
the streets of the capital. Mass gatherings have been banned and
severe restrictions have been placed on the media.

Cafe Shamiram belonging to Ter-Petrosyan’s supporter
Khachatur Sukiasyan burned down in Yerevan

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.03.2008 15:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Cafe Shamiram belonging to Ter-Petrosyan’s supporter,
MP Khachatur Sukiasyan was burned down in Yerevan.

Witnesses say that the fire burst out some 15 minutes ago. Then two
explosions were heard (supposedly, gas tanks exploded). The fire
spread over to nearby vendor kiosks.

The firemen extinguished the fire but the cafe was completely burned
down.

This morning the law enforcers searched though Khachatur Sukiasyan’s
apartments. According to unconfirmed data, a criminal case was
initiated against him.

SPECIAL MEETING OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY APPROVED PRESIDENT’S DECREE

Lragir
16:18:53 – 02/03/2008

The RA National Assembly department of public relations issued
a release on the RA National Assembly special meeting: "On March
2 the RA National Assembly convened a special meeting. NA Speaker
Tigran Torosyan said in connection with the events which took place
in Yerevan on March 1 the RA President consulted the speaker of
the National Assembly and Prime Minister and declared a state of
emergency. In accordance with Article 55.14 of the Constitution,
in case of declaring a state of emergency a special meeting of the
National Assembly is held immediately. Before touching upon the issue
under discussion the National Assembly decided not to broadcast the
special meeting live on the Public Radio Company."

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY: "AZERBAIJAN IS PANICKING ABOUT POSSIBLE KOSOVO PRECEDENT"

Today, Azerbaijan
Feb 29 2008

Armenian Foreig Ministry considers that Azerbaijan is panicking
that Kosovo may become a precedent in the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict.

"The more Azerbaijan will insist that Kosovo can not become a
precedent, the stronger will be the formation of public opinion that
parallels between Kosovo and other conflicts", the announcement of
Tigran Baralyan, chief of department for relations with mass media of
department of press and information under Armenian Foreign Ministry,
says.

Balayan accuses Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry that it "tries to express
one-sided position of official Baku on the issue of the Karabakh
conflict settlement by means of various international initiatives".

"Armenia confirms its position on the uniqueness of each conflict and
announces that each movement of self-determination should be allowed
to attain natural and logical decision", Balayan noted.

URL:

PRESS RELEASE
ST. JAMES ARMENIAN CHURCH SCHOOL
4950 WEST SLAUSON AVENUE
LOS ANGELES, CA 90056
CONTACT: Peter Abajian
Tel: 310.400.9061
Email: [email protected]

ST. JAMES ARMENIAN CHURCH SCHOOL TO SPONSOR EASTER EGG DYEING AND
CHOEREG BAKING EVENT

Los Angeles, CA – On Saturday, March 22nd at 10:00 a.m., the St. James
Armenian Church School will be sponsoring an Easter Event. Children
of all ages are invited to join us from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon
to dye Easter eggs and bake Easter Choereg in the Gogian Hall.

"Our goal is to sponsor an event that would be fun for both kids and
their parents," Said Peter Abajian, Chairman of the School "Families
from throughout Los Angeles and especially those in the vicinity of
St. James Armenian Church are invited to spend the morning with us
rolling, baking choereg and dyeing eggs."

The St. James Armenian Church School provides weekly classes in the
Armenian language, religion and culture each Sunday from 10:00 a.m.
until 1:00 p.m. Classes are open to all children and are free of
charge.

For more information or to RSVP for the event, please call 310.937.0409
or email [email protected].

‘ASOKAMALA’ ESSENTIALLY A CAPTIVE ANIMAL – WILDLIFE DIRECTOR
by Wasantha Ramanayake

Ceylon Daily News, Sri Lanka
Feb 29 2008

"Asokamala" was born and bred in captivity and therefore could not
be released to the wilderness, Wildlife Director General Ananda
Weerasuriya stated in his objections to a Fundamental Rights
Application before the Supreme Court.

The Director General added that the elephant was born in the Elephant
Orphanage in Pinnawala and rared in captivity.

The rights application was filed by petitioner Vijitha Fernando
of Mt. Lavinia, the treasurer of the organisation, Society for the
Protection of Animal Rights against the gifting of the female elephant
to Yerevan Zoo in Armenia. The DG stated that the zoo in Armenia had
informed that facilities had been upgraded at a cost of US$ 600,000
to accommodate the two elephants including the male elephant which
had been already there.

The DG stated that it was not a "gift" as claimed by the petitioner
but was an exchange between the Dehiwala Zoo and Yerevan Zoo, that was
approved by the Cabinet as a token of goodwill to promote bilateral
relations between the two countries.

The petitioner, the treasurer of the organisation, Society for the
Protection of Animal Rights complained that elephants were culturally
revered and protected by Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance.

The petitioner stated that Armenia have longer cold weather period
where the temperature would fall below zero. The under-funded zoo
lacked power needed to heat and food, during these longer wintry
weather. The petitioner cited the Director Wild Life Conservation,
the Environment Minister, the Secretary to the Ministry and several
others as respondents.

Deputy Solicitor General S. Rajaratnam appeared for the respondents.

The hearing was fixed for June 12.

PRESIDENT KOCHARYAN SAYS THERE ARE FOUR WAYS OUT OF THE CURRENT SITUATION

armradio.am
29.02.2008 18:13

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan stated today at the Yerevan State
University that before the elections, the authorities had carried out a
"huge work" to have the electoral legislation meet the international
standards.

Robert Kocharyan stated that practically all the recommendations of
the international experts were taken into account, except for the
advice on using special ink for finger-marking the electors. Robert
Kocharyan believes that such innovation would lead to a considerable
decrease of voter turnout.

RA President stressed that "there cannot be perfect elections,
violations exist everywhere. However, what is important is the nature
of violations and the timely reaction of the authorities."

Robert Kocharyan noted that the official website of RA Prosecutor
General’s Office provides information on the work of law-enforcement
bodies on investigating all the facts of violations.

Robert Kocharyan declared that Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s behavior was
predictable. He noted that "the seeds of such behavior had been sown
still a fortnight before the elections. Then one of the candidates
proclaimed his victory, and from this point of view his activity
is natural."

The President suggested four scenarios of further development of
the situation.

1. Mass demonstrations continue with the attempts to involve new
people, but the public experiences great disappointment and does not
forgive those guilty of their stress.

2. The hopeless situation of the participants of the protest leads to
the reoccurrence o the situation of 1996, when the protestors attempted
to invade state structures. In this case the law-enforcement bodies
will prevent such actions.

3. The leaders of the protest thank people for support, maintaining
their influence and prepare for the next elections.

4. The leaders of the protest thank people for support, congratulate
the newly elected President, ask to show good attitude towards the
detained and go to write their recurrent scientific work."

RA President noted the authorities are ready for any of these
scenarios.

Robert Kocharyan said the authorities continue patiently waiting for
the act of protest to fade itself. Otherwise, the authorities will
have to defend the constitutional order and call the persons on the
platform to responsibility, the leader of the country stated.

At the same time, According to the President, it’s preferable for
everything to calm down itself to exclude the necessity of application
of force.

ARMENIA POLL WINNER OFFERS COALITION AS PROTESTS GROW
by Mariam Harutunian

Agence France Presse — English
February 26, 2008 Tuesday 6:58 PM GMT

Armenia’s president-elect Serzh Sarkisian invited defeated rivals
Tuesday to help form a coalition government as the capital Yerevan
saw the largest opposition rally since last week’s election.

But in a sign of growing tension on the seventh day of mass protests,
Armenia’s secret service said it had detained several protesters for
holding a cache of arms and plotting to seize state television and
radio stations.

In Yerevan Tuesday for talks with both sides, Finnish Foreign Minister
Ilkka Kanerva and current chairman of the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), called for restraint.

Addressing several thousand supporters in the capital’s Republic
Square, Sarkisian appeared to offer an olive branch to the opposition.

"We appeal to all former presidential candidates and all political
forces supporting them: let us cooperate right up to the formation
of a coalition government," Sarkisian said.

"I call on everyone, irrespective of their political opinion,
to overcome this artificial split in society," he added, as his
supporters waved placards reading: "We Will Protect Our Votes!"

But in nearby Freedom Square, tens of thousands of backers of
Sarkisian’s defeated rival Levon Ter-Petrosian held a seventh day
of protests — and, on glance, by far the largest rally to date —
to overturn what they claim was a rigged election on February 19.

Neither organizers nor the police however were available to provide
accurate estimates of the crowd.

At the rally, which took place without incident, protesters punched
their fists into the air, waved Armenian flags and chanted: "Levon!

Levon!" and "Serzh Leave!"

Several thousand opposition activists later broke off from the main
demonstration to march past government offices, which were surrounded
by riot police in grey camouflage uniforms.

A few hundred activists then prepared to bed down for another night
at a protest camp of around two dozen tents set up on Freedom Square
amid freezing winter temperatures.

While there was no response to Sarkisian’s offer for talks in a
speech by Ter-Petrosian, fellow opposition leader Vaagn Khachatrian
said the proposal had come too late.

"It should have been made a week ago," he said.

Official results from the election gave victory to Sarkisian, the prime
minister, with 53 percent of the vote. Former president Ter-Petrosian
came second with 21.5 percent.

Ter-Petrosian has called for the result to be annulled, alleging
that dozens of his activists were beaten and that ballot stuffing,
multiple voting and voter intimidation were widespread on election day.

But OSCE election observers described the vote as "mostly" in line
with international standards.

Meanwhile, the National Security Service said in a statement Tuesday
it detained several opposition supporters during the seizure of a
cache of weapons in an alleged plot to seize state television and
radio stations.

Several other opposition activists were detained over the weekend
for allegedly possessing illegal weapons. On Monday, police ordered
the closing of some of Ter-Petrosian’s offices, according to his
campaign staff.

In a national television address the next day, President Robert
Kocharian said it was time everyone "sobered up and understood that
you cannot get to power by rough means."

While Sarkisian described protesters in his speech as "brothers and
sisters," he suggested there was a limit to the authorities’ patience
for the rallies.

"We will be decisive so that life in the capital becomes normal,"
he said.