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EU presidency calls for Armenian opposition leader to be freed

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  • EU presidency calls for Armenian opposition leader to be freed

    EU presidency calls for Armenian opposition leader to be freed

    EUbusiness (press release), UK
    March 1 2008

    01 March 2008, 19:47 CET

    (BRUSSELS) - The European Union's Slovenian presidency on Saturday
    called on Armenia's government to free opposition leader Levon
    Ter-Petrosian from house arrest and demonstrators detained by police.

    "The presidency is deeply concerned about the curtailment of freedom of
    movement of the opposition leader and former presidential candidate
    Levon Ter-Petrosian and about the detention of demonstrators,"
    a statement said.

    "The presidency calls for their immediate release."

    Ter-Petrosian, the defeated presidential candidate and former president
    of the mountainous country, said Saturday he had been placed under
    house arrest following a police crackdown.

    Meanwhile, the Armenian government threatened to call a state of
    emergency if the political crisis that flared following a presidential
    election last month worsened.

    Riot police clashed in Yerevan with demonstrators on an 11th
    consecutive day of protests against alleged rigging of the February
    19 poll.

    The Slovenian presidency called for all sides to be peaceful and
    "to reengage in political dialogue immediately in order to restore
    stability in the country."

    Protesters claim the election was rigged to ensure victory for Prime
    Minister Serzh Sarkisian, a close ally of outgoing President Robert
    Kocharian.

    But observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
    Europe (OSCE) have said that the election "mostly" met international
    standards.

    Official results gave 52.9 percent of the vote to Sarkisian and 21.5
    percent to Ter-Petrosian.
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