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Armenia: Government Threatens Opposition With Criminal Prosecution

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  • Armenia: Government Threatens Opposition With Criminal Prosecution

    Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
    April 1 2004

    Armenia: Government Threatens Opposition With Criminal Prosecution
    By Jean-Christophe Peuch


    Stepan Demirchan

    A long-standing dispute between Armenia's ruling coalition and rivals
    of President Robert Kocharian reached new heights yesterday as
    judicial authorities said they had launched criminal proceedings
    against the country's main antigovernment alliance. Earlier this
    week, opposition leaders said they would carry on with plans to stage
    nationwide street protests in hopes of forcing Kocharian's departure.


    Prague, 1 April 2004 (RFE/RL) -- The Prosecutor-General 's Office in
    Yerevan has launched a criminal case against the main opposition
    Justice (Artarutiun) alliance, which it suspects of plotting to
    forcibly remove President Robert Kocharian from office.

    In a statement released yesterday, the Prosecutor-General's Office
    blamed Justice for a series of recent unsanctioned rallies that
    purportedly called for regime change through violence and
    "overthrowing the existing constitutional order."

    "We are united and determined to fulfill the people's will in a bid
    to restore constitutional order and establish a legitimate government
    in Armenia."Contacted by RFE/RL's Armenian Service, the
    Prosecutor-General's Office said the investigation would help
    determine whether charges should be brought against any particular
    individual.

    Looming tensions between the three-party ruling coalition and the
    opposition boiled over on 30 March when a Justice lawmaker
    unexpectedly took the floor in the National Assembly (parliament) to
    publicly challenge the authority of the head of state.

    Addressing the legislature, parliamentarian Viktor Dallakian said
    opposition parties soon intended to peacefully end President Robert
    Kocharian's rule. "[We will] start the process of ending Kocharian's
    regime beginning by 12 April,” he said. “To that end, [we plan] to
    organize nationwide rallies which will start at a date that will be
    announced by 5 April. We are united and determined to fulfill the
    people's will in a bid to restore constitutional order and establish
    a legitimate government in Armenia."

    Brushing aside belated offers of dialogue, made separately by all
    three partners in the ruling coalition -- Prime Minister Andranik
    Markarian's Republican Party, the Rule of Law (Orinats Yerkir) Party,
    and the Dashnaktsutyun Armenian Revolutionary Federation -- Dallakian
    further attacked Kocharian's rule. "Power in Armenia is in the hands
    of a junta," he said. "In a bid to scare the people, Kocharian
    recently reminded all that he is the commander-in-chief of the armed
    forces and Defense Minister [Serzh Sargsian] keeps saying the army
    will help restore public order. These statements are
    anticonstitutional and go beyond the framework of legality."

    Presidential spokesman Ashot Kocharian described Justice's threats as
    "baseless and aggressive" and warned against any attempt at removing
    the head of state by force.

    The opposition claims the March 2003 presidential election that saw
    Kocharian win a second five-year term with more than 67 percent of
    the vote was rigged.

    Kocharian's main challenger, People's Party leader Stepan Demirchian,
    garnered only 32 percent of the vote. Demirchian is the son of late
    parliament speaker Karen Demirchian, a former Communist Party boss
    who was killed in the October 1999 shootings in the assembly.

    Following his defeat in the presidential race, Demirchian took the
    head of Justice -- an alliance made of the People's Party and other
    opposition groups -- with a view to grabbing a majority of seats in
    the May 2003 parliamentary elections. But the polls, marred by
    violence and irregularities, saw the victory of Kocharian's allies.

    Justice, which has only 15 representatives in the 131-seat assembly,
    has since then regularly boycotted parliamentary sessions to protest
    Kocharian's successful attempts at allegedly "usurping power" and
    "muzzling critics."

    After the opposition in early February failed to initial a
    constitutional debate that would have paved the way for a national
    vote of confidence in Kocharian, Justice decided once again to shun
    the assembly.

    The alliance's nationwide protest plans are now supported by the
    National Unity Party, another opposition group that has nine
    representatives in parliament.

    Speaking to RFE/RL's Armenian Service yesterday after the
    prosecutor-general threatened his group with criminal proceedings,
    Demirchian said he and his allies remained undeterred in their
    determination to obtain a change of regime. "The constitution of the
    republic of Armenia says the seizure of power by individuals is a
    crime," he said. "This is [precisely] what happened in Armenia. The
    opposition says it wants to restore constitutional order. Thanks to
    the opposition's efforts there has been no [large-scale] violence or
    unrest so far."

    Political tension became suddenly palpable on 28 March, when scuffles
    broke out between Justice protesters and Kocharian's sympathizers in
    the northwestern city of Gyumri (formerly Leninakan). Police detained
    at least nine opposition activists. Demirchian has blamed authorities
    for the incident, saying it proved Kocharian's regime was
    "agonizing," or in its death throes.

    On the day after the Gyumri brawl (29 March), parliament initiated a
    debate on a controversial government draft bill on rallies and public
    gatherings. Lawmakers yesterday gave first-reading approval to the
    proposed legislation.

    Although the draft eases procedures for holding demonstrations, it
    gives law-enforcement agencies extended powers to quash protests that
    are seen as threatening public order. That notably includes violent
    incidents and calls to forcibly overthrow the government.

    The opposition claims the draft bill -- which is reportedly being
    examined by the Venice Commission (the "constitutional watchdog" of
    the Council of Europe) -- is tailor-made to allow authorities to
    disrupt any anti-Kocharian protest.

    Earlier this week, Armenia's Union of Industrialists and
    Entrepreneurs warned against political unrest in the country, saying
    it could undermine the economy and jeopardize efforts to reach a
    peaceful solution on the territorial dispute with neighboring
    Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.
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