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COURT OKS ARMENIANS' CITIZENSHIP
By Eric Malnic, Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times
Sept 7 2005
The two were among five L.A.-area men convicted in 1985 in a plot to
bomb Turkish consulate offices in Philadelphia.
The U.S. citizenship of two men convicted 20 years ago in an Armenian
plot to bomb the offices of the Turkish Consulate in Philadelphia was
affirmed Tuesday as the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that
the men had demonstrated their good character since 1992.
"To hold otherwise would sanction a denial of citizenship where the
applicant's misconduct ... was many years in the past, and where
a former bad record has been followed by many years of exemplary
conduct, with every evidence of reformation and good moral character,"
the court said Tuesday, citing its similar ruling in an earlier case.
Viken Hovsepian, now 45, and Viken Vasken Yacoubian, now 42, both born
in Lebanon, were among five Los Angeles-area men arrested in October
1982 on suspicion of conspiring to dynamite the consul general's
office. The FBI said it found the makings of a bomb in a suitcase at
Boston's Logan Airport, where one of the five was arrested.
Hovsepian, then the part owner of a gas station and a Santa Monica
resident, was identified by prosecutors as the organizer of the
scheme and "the most culpable of these five defendants." Yacoubian,
of Glendale, was a student at UCLA.
In October 1984, Hovsepian; Yacoubian; Karnig Sarkissian, then 31, of
Anaheim; and Steven Dadaian, then 22, of Canoga Park were found guilty
by a federal judge of transporting explosives across a state line.
But U.S. District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer said she was impressed
with the backgrounds of the defendants and indicated she would give
serious consideration to their pasts in determining their sentences.
Pfaelzer did not say what impressed her, but defense attorneys said
they thought she was referring to familial and sociological factors
in their roles as Armenian activists.
Pfaelzer's verdict followed a five-day trial in which the defendants
presented an insanity defense based on the history of hostility
between Turks and Armenians.
"The main defense was that they should not be found criminally
responsible because of the psychological impact of the Armenian
genocide in 1915, in which 1 1/2 million Armenians were killed by
the Turks," said Michael Avery, Dadaian's attorney.
On Jan. 25, 1985, Pfaelzer sentenced Hovsepian to six years in a
federal prison camp. Yacoubian was sentenced to three years.
"I have no doubt the defendants are basically of good character and
unlikely to repeat the acts," Pfaelzer said. "Nonetheless, [the
bombing] was methodically planned. It was not amateurish. I must
incarcerate the defendants."
The fifth defendant, Dikran Berberian of Glendale, was tried
separately. He was convicted in 1986 at age 32 of conspiracy and
transporting an explosive device. He served a 5 1/2 -year sentence
at the Terminal Island federal penitentiary.
After completing their sentences, Hovsepian and Yacoubian returned
to the Los Angeles area.
Hovsepian became "a role model amongst youth groups and student groups,
to which he frequently lectures about the counter-productiveness of
violence," the appellate court said. "Yacoubian became the principal
of the Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School in 1993 ... and has
become a leader in the Armenian American community."
Both men applied for, and eventually were granted, U.S. citizenship.
But federal attorneys appealed, arguing that the men had made false
statements in their efforts to secure citizenship.
The appellate court disagreed.
"No intentionally false testimony was given," Judge Susan P. Graber
wrote in the court's opinion. "To the extent that any statements in
the application process were inaccurate, the inaccuracies resulted from
faulty memory, misinterpretation of a question or innocent mistake."
By Eric Malnic, Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times
Sept 7 2005
The two were among five L.A.-area men convicted in 1985 in a plot to
bomb Turkish consulate offices in Philadelphia.
The U.S. citizenship of two men convicted 20 years ago in an Armenian
plot to bomb the offices of the Turkish Consulate in Philadelphia was
affirmed Tuesday as the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that
the men had demonstrated their good character since 1992.
"To hold otherwise would sanction a denial of citizenship where the
applicant's misconduct ... was many years in the past, and where
a former bad record has been followed by many years of exemplary
conduct, with every evidence of reformation and good moral character,"
the court said Tuesday, citing its similar ruling in an earlier case.
Viken Hovsepian, now 45, and Viken Vasken Yacoubian, now 42, both born
in Lebanon, were among five Los Angeles-area men arrested in October
1982 on suspicion of conspiring to dynamite the consul general's
office. The FBI said it found the makings of a bomb in a suitcase at
Boston's Logan Airport, where one of the five was arrested.
Hovsepian, then the part owner of a gas station and a Santa Monica
resident, was identified by prosecutors as the organizer of the
scheme and "the most culpable of these five defendants." Yacoubian,
of Glendale, was a student at UCLA.
In October 1984, Hovsepian; Yacoubian; Karnig Sarkissian, then 31, of
Anaheim; and Steven Dadaian, then 22, of Canoga Park were found guilty
by a federal judge of transporting explosives across a state line.
But U.S. District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer said she was impressed
with the backgrounds of the defendants and indicated she would give
serious consideration to their pasts in determining their sentences.
Pfaelzer did not say what impressed her, but defense attorneys said
they thought she was referring to familial and sociological factors
in their roles as Armenian activists.
Pfaelzer's verdict followed a five-day trial in which the defendants
presented an insanity defense based on the history of hostility
between Turks and Armenians.
"The main defense was that they should not be found criminally
responsible because of the psychological impact of the Armenian
genocide in 1915, in which 1 1/2 million Armenians were killed by
the Turks," said Michael Avery, Dadaian's attorney.
On Jan. 25, 1985, Pfaelzer sentenced Hovsepian to six years in a
federal prison camp. Yacoubian was sentenced to three years.
"I have no doubt the defendants are basically of good character and
unlikely to repeat the acts," Pfaelzer said. "Nonetheless, [the
bombing] was methodically planned. It was not amateurish. I must
incarcerate the defendants."
The fifth defendant, Dikran Berberian of Glendale, was tried
separately. He was convicted in 1986 at age 32 of conspiracy and
transporting an explosive device. He served a 5 1/2 -year sentence
at the Terminal Island federal penitentiary.
After completing their sentences, Hovsepian and Yacoubian returned
to the Los Angeles area.
Hovsepian became "a role model amongst youth groups and student groups,
to which he frequently lectures about the counter-productiveness of
violence," the appellate court said. "Yacoubian became the principal
of the Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School in 1993 ... and has
become a leader in the Armenian American community."
Both men applied for, and eventually were granted, U.S. citizenship.
But federal attorneys appealed, arguing that the men had made false
statements in their efforts to secure citizenship.
The appellate court disagreed.
"No intentionally false testimony was given," Judge Susan P. Graber
wrote in the court's opinion. "To the extent that any statements in
the application process were inaccurate, the inaccuracies resulted from
faulty memory, misinterpretation of a question or innocent mistake."