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ARMENIAN OPPOSITION CONDEMNS EX-MINISTER'S ARREST
By Astghik Bedevian
Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
May 8 2007
Armenia's leading opposition groups condemned on Tuesday the overnight
arrest of one of the two prominent government critics accused of being
illegally financed by a Russian businessman allegedly plotting regime
change in the country.
Former Foreign Minister Aleksandr Arzumanian was taken into custody
late Monday two days after officers of the National Security Service
(NSS) found and confiscated $55,400 in his Yerevan apartment. The
NSS says the cash was part of a $180,000 payment allegedly wired to
Arzumanian and another former government minister, Vahan Shirkhanian,
by Levon Markos, a Russian citizen of Armenian descent who is at odds
with the authorities in Yerevan.
NSS investigators on Tuesday again interrogated Shirkhanian but
refrained from detaining him. Shirkhanian, who was Armenia' de facto
deputy prime minister in 1999-2000, told RFE/RL afterwards the he
refused to answer any questions from them. "The interrogation was
very short," he said. "I went there as a witness [in the case] and
came away as a witness."
The NSS searched Shirkhanian's apartment and confiscated $28,000 on
Saturday. In a statement on Monday, the Armenian successor to the
Soviet KGB said he and Arzumanian received the sums after meeting
Markos in Moscow late last month. Neither men has been formally charged
yet under an article of the Armenian Criminal Code that deals with
attempts to "legalize revenues obtained by criminal means."
Both oppositionists have admitted visiting the Russian capital recently
but denied meeting Markos or receiving any cash from him.
Arzumanian insists that the confiscated cash was earned by himself,
while Shirkhanian claims to have received $80,000 from Moscow-based
"friends" to organize his daughter's wedding party and rent office
space for a non-governmental organization headed by him.
Markos fled Armenia in 2005 to avoid prosecution on what he and his
friends consider trumped-up fraud charges. The NSS statement said he is
"pursuing some goals in the pre-election period" but did not specify
whether that has any connection with a "civil resistance movement"
launched by Arzumanian and Shirkhanian late last year.
According to Karapet Rubinian, another movement leader and prominent
representative of Armenia's former leadership, the NSS told
Arzumanian that he is arrested because of refusing to show up for
fresh questioning on Monday and for talking to the media. Rubinian
claimed that the arrest is illegal and unjustified.
"This political persecution has nothing to do with the [May
12 parliamentary] elections," Rubinian told journalists. "The
authorities have already distributed parliament seats. Their main
worry is post-election processes."
He was speaking after an emergency meeting of top representatives of
the country's main opposition forces, including the Orinats Yerkir,
Zharangutyun, Hanrapetutyun, and People's parties. They are expected
to issue a joint statement demanding that the authorities immediately
release Arzumanian and punish those who have initiated the "illegal
actions" against the former foreign minister.
"The society must not let them do what they want," said Vazgen Manukian
of the National Democratic Union (AZhM). "Today they caught Alik
[Arzumanian,] tomorrow they will catch others."
"Such actions will happen as long as power in Armenia can not
be changed by means of elections," agreed Raffi Hovannisian, the
Zharangutyun leader and another former foreign minister. "Aleksandr
Arzumanian's case is not a separate incident. It's a challenge. The
action taken against him mirrors the pettiness of Armenia's rulers."
By Astghik Bedevian
Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
May 8 2007
Armenia's leading opposition groups condemned on Tuesday the overnight
arrest of one of the two prominent government critics accused of being
illegally financed by a Russian businessman allegedly plotting regime
change in the country.
Former Foreign Minister Aleksandr Arzumanian was taken into custody
late Monday two days after officers of the National Security Service
(NSS) found and confiscated $55,400 in his Yerevan apartment. The
NSS says the cash was part of a $180,000 payment allegedly wired to
Arzumanian and another former government minister, Vahan Shirkhanian,
by Levon Markos, a Russian citizen of Armenian descent who is at odds
with the authorities in Yerevan.
NSS investigators on Tuesday again interrogated Shirkhanian but
refrained from detaining him. Shirkhanian, who was Armenia' de facto
deputy prime minister in 1999-2000, told RFE/RL afterwards the he
refused to answer any questions from them. "The interrogation was
very short," he said. "I went there as a witness [in the case] and
came away as a witness."
The NSS searched Shirkhanian's apartment and confiscated $28,000 on
Saturday. In a statement on Monday, the Armenian successor to the
Soviet KGB said he and Arzumanian received the sums after meeting
Markos in Moscow late last month. Neither men has been formally charged
yet under an article of the Armenian Criminal Code that deals with
attempts to "legalize revenues obtained by criminal means."
Both oppositionists have admitted visiting the Russian capital recently
but denied meeting Markos or receiving any cash from him.
Arzumanian insists that the confiscated cash was earned by himself,
while Shirkhanian claims to have received $80,000 from Moscow-based
"friends" to organize his daughter's wedding party and rent office
space for a non-governmental organization headed by him.
Markos fled Armenia in 2005 to avoid prosecution on what he and his
friends consider trumped-up fraud charges. The NSS statement said he is
"pursuing some goals in the pre-election period" but did not specify
whether that has any connection with a "civil resistance movement"
launched by Arzumanian and Shirkhanian late last year.
According to Karapet Rubinian, another movement leader and prominent
representative of Armenia's former leadership, the NSS told
Arzumanian that he is arrested because of refusing to show up for
fresh questioning on Monday and for talking to the media. Rubinian
claimed that the arrest is illegal and unjustified.
"This political persecution has nothing to do with the [May
12 parliamentary] elections," Rubinian told journalists. "The
authorities have already distributed parliament seats. Their main
worry is post-election processes."
He was speaking after an emergency meeting of top representatives of
the country's main opposition forces, including the Orinats Yerkir,
Zharangutyun, Hanrapetutyun, and People's parties. They are expected
to issue a joint statement demanding that the authorities immediately
release Arzumanian and punish those who have initiated the "illegal
actions" against the former foreign minister.
"The society must not let them do what they want," said Vazgen Manukian
of the National Democratic Union (AZhM). "Today they caught Alik
[Arzumanian,] tomorrow they will catch others."
"Such actions will happen as long as power in Armenia can not
be changed by means of elections," agreed Raffi Hovannisian, the
Zharangutyun leader and another former foreign minister. "Aleksandr
Arzumanian's case is not a separate incident. It's a challenge. The
action taken against him mirrors the pettiness of Armenia's rulers."