Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Trial of Vahagn Chakhalyan Has Resumed after a Two-Month Break

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Trial of Vahagn Chakhalyan Has Resumed after a Two-Month Break

    PRESS-RELEASE
    "YERKIR", UNION OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS FOR REPATRIATION AND
    SETTLEMENT

    Contact: Robert Tatoyan,
    Tel. +(374 10) 46 50 21; +(374 94) 36 17 93
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Web: http://www.yerkir.org

    January 31, 2009
    Yerevan, Armenia

    THE TRIAL OF JAVAKHETI ARMENIAN POLITICAL ACTIVIST VAHAGN CHAKHALYAN HAS
    RESUMED AFTER A TWO-MONTH BREAK

    On January 29, 2009 the hearing of the case of Vahagn Chakhalyan - the
    Javakheti Armenian political activist and the leader of the `United Javakhk'
    Democratic Alliance' Political Movement resumed after almost two-month
    break. The court hearings were held on January 28 and January 29 in
    Akhaltskha town of Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia.

    The represtnatives of «Yerkir» Union who monitored the trial observed the
    following facts:

    1. Vahagn Chakhalyan declared a hunger strike in the courtroom to protest
    against the arrests by the Georgian authorities of the two public activists
    of the Armenian community in Akhaltskha - Grigor Minasyan and Sergey
    Hakobjanyan.

    2. Since the accused Vahagn Chakhalyan, his father and brother, as well as
    their advocate Stepan Voskanyan do not speak Georgian, the court provided an
    interpreter. The interpretation, however, was extremely inaccurate with
    recurrent pauses and omissions of crucial parts. The judge Tsira Maisuradze
    further complicated the interpretation, as she didn't bother herself to make
    breaks in her speach at reasonable intervals to facilitate the consecutive
    interpretation.

    3. The Georgian legislation bans video and audio recording, as well as
    making photos in the courtroom. In the meantime, video or audio recordings
    of the court hearings might guarantee against possible falsification of the
    court records by the Georgian authorities.

    4. The French advocate of the Chakhalyans family - Patrick Arabian was not
    present at the hearings. The Georgian authorities artificially delay his
    registration, although all the necessary documents had been submitted to the
    Ministry of Justice on January 13.

    5. During the court hearing on January 29 it turned out that Vahagn
    Chakhalyan was not provided with the Armenian translation of the indictment
    after the new charges had been brought against him on December 3, 2008.
    Nevertheless, the judge did not adjourn the hearing, promising to provide
    the translation of the indictment afterwards.

    6. The judge dismissed the petition of the defense for a forensic
    dactyloscopic examination of fingerprints on the weapon allegedly found in
    the house of Vahagn Chakhalyan and the office of the Youth Sports and
    Culture Union of Javakheti on the grounds that over six months have passed
    since the `revelation' of the weapon, and the fingerprints have become
    indistinguishable. The objection of the defense, claiming that the mentioned
    examination should have been done by the police immediately after the weapon
    was `found', and that the advocates had petitioned for conducting the
    examination three months ago, remained unanswered.

    7. On January 29 during the court hearing Vahagn Chakhalyan made a political
    statement (the text is attached). The judge interrupted the statement
    several times, on the ground that it was irrelevant to the case.

    8. Not a single witness was present at the court hearing on January 28. Only
    some of them sent letters confirming their testimony given during the
    preliminary investigation and said that they didn't want to be present at
    the court hearings. The judge wanted then to proceed immediately to
    questioning the defendants and only after the persistent objection of the
    defense she was forced to give in and adjourn the hearing for one day.

    9. Only two complainants and two witnesses appeared before the court on
    January 29. The court considered the circumstances of the mass protest of
    the Armenian population of Akhalkalaki held on March 11, 2006, which is one
    of charges against Vahagn Chakhalyan.

    10. After questioning the complainants and the witnesses the judge adjourned
    the trial until February 11.

    The facts observed during the monitoring of the trials on January 28 and 29,
    in particular
    - The delay in registration of the French advocate Patrick Arabian,
    - Тhe fact that no forensic dactyloscopic examination of the fingerprints on
    the weapon allegedly found in the house of Vahagn Chakhalyan and the office
    of the Youth Sports and Culture Union of Javakheti was implemented by the
    police and the dismissal of the petition of the defense for making a
    forensic examination of the fingerprints,
    - The failure of the witnesses to appear before the court and the attempt of
    the judge to continue the trial in their absence,
    once again prove the fact that the processes that took place in the
    courtroom had nothing to do with justice, but are a judicial realization of
    a political order given by the Georgian authorities.

    Yerkir Union once again appeals to the corresponding international
    structures and human rights organizations calling them:
    - to monitor the trial of the political activist and the members of his
    family,
    - to recognize Vahagn Chakhalyan, the members of his family, as well as
    other Armenian public activists arrested in Georgia as political prisoners,
    - to urge the Georgian authorities to stop the repressions of the Armenians
    that populate the Samtskhe-Javakheti Region, and to release all the
    Javakheti Armenian political prisoners.

    The indifference of the international community towards the processes that
    today take place in Samtskhe-Javakheti Region allow the Georgian authorities
    to redouble in practice the repressions of the Armenian population,
    escalating the atmosphere of fear and discontent, which may bring to
    uncontrollable consequences of destabilization.

    Appendix:
    THE STATEMENT OF VAHAGN CHAKHALYAN,
    LEADER OF THE `UNITED JAVAKHK' DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE' POLITICAL MOVEMENT

    28 January 2009

    Since the day of its establishment the `United Javakhk' Democratic Alliance'
    political movement, of which I am the leader, has been seeking solutions to
    the problems of the Javakheti and Georgian Armenians on the whole.

    There used to be and there still are a lot of problems to face. The Georgian
    authorities undertake successive actions to encourage the immigration of the
    Javakheti Armenians and to change the ethnic picture of the region. Thus,
    70% of the students at the State University in Akhalkalaki are ethnic
    Georgians. Moreover, a Georgian orphanage is established and a big prison is
    being built in Ninotsminda, attempts to georgianize the Armenian churches
    are made, new Georgian monasteries are constructed, etc. In Javakheti there
    is no alternative to using the Georgian language, which is imposed at all
    levels of social life. The Javakheti Armenians are refused the right to
    establish an Armenian language based university.

    After the murder of the ethnic Armenian - Gevorg Gevorgyan in Tsalka region
    on March 9, 2006, his relatives and friends organized a protest action,
    which was forcefully broken up by the police. This caused a well-grounded
    discontent of the Javakheti Armenians. The `United Javakhk' Democratic
    Alliance' placed itself at the head of this wave of protests.

    After each protest action I, as a leader of the `United Javakhk' Democratic
    Alliance', had a meeting with the Georgian authorities. The latter kept on
    promising to solve the problems regarding the Javakheti Armenians, however,
    the promises remained unfulfilled. The authorities advised us to refrain
    from mass protest actions and to pursue our objectives through participation
    in elections and other democratic processes.

    The `United Javakhk' Democratic Alliance' followed this advice. In October
    2006 we took part in the elections to the local self-administration bodies,
    however blatant falsifications of the voting results by the authorities
    deprived the `United Javakhk' Democratic Alliance' of the opportunity to
    have any visible participation in the local self-administration bodies. The
    protest action organized by the `United Javakhk' Democratic Alliance' was
    put down by police by means of provocation and use of force.

    Throughout the year 2007 the Georgian authorities had been undertaking
    successive actions to liquidate the `United Javakhk' Democratic Alliance'
    and to ensure my political isolation and neutralization. The culmination of
    these actions became the events that took place in July 17-21, 2008.

    Today, 6 months after my imprisonment, the Georgian authorities charge me
    with organizing protest actions in Akhalkalaki in 2006, - the actions by
    means of which the Javakheti Armenians voiced the problems and issues they
    were concerned about and requested the Georgian authorities to solve
    them; -the protest actions during which the Javakheti Armenians voiced their
    discontent about the blatant falsifications made by the authorities during
    the elections to the local self-administration bodies, claiming to declare
    the election results invalid.

    Thus, in this courtroom I am stating the following: this lawsuit is a farce,
    and the reason for continuously delaying the trial lies in the fact that the
    Georgian authorities are afraid of me, as a political activist, who is a
    mouthpiece for the rights of the Javakheti Armenians. By charging me you
    charge the Armenian minority of your country.

    The arrests of Ahaltsikha Armenian activists Grigor Minasyan, and Sargis
    Hakobjanyan are also the result of this fear. This is a new provocation,
    which aims to impel the Javakheti Armenians to extremist actions and by this
    to discredit the peaceful struggle of Javakheti Armenians for their
    language, educational and religious rights.

    As in the past, once again I request the Georgian authorities to:

    1. Stop all the criminal cases brought against the members of the `United
    Javakhk' Democratic Alliance', my relatives and friends, as well as against
    me. To stop all political and economic persecutions. Release all political
    prisoners who were arrested for their activities aimed at protection of the
    rights of the Armenian minority, including - of people arrested in
    Akhaltsikhe.

    2. Cease all the programs aimed at the artificial change of the demographic
    picture of the Samtskhe-Javakheti and Tsalka regions.

    3. Solve all the linguistic-educational, socio-economic and cultural
    problems the Armenian Minority of Georgia is concerned about.
    - Register the Armenian Apostolic Church and return it all the churches that
    have been confiscated during the soviet era.
    - Legally authorize the use of the Armenian language in the work of the
    local self-administration bodies and in general office work in
    Samtskhe-Javakheti and Tsalka regions.
    - Give permission for establishing an Armenian university in Akhalkalaki.

    The Georgian authorities will not be able to solve any problems by means of
    judicial proceedings and repressions. This will only intensify the
    discontent.

    The Javakheti Armenians will continue the struggle for their rights.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Working...
X