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ANOTHER ELECTION ATTACK REPORTED IN YEREVAN DISTRICT
Ruzanna Stepanian
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24551596.html
17.04.2012
Armenia - Gayane Arustamian, a journalist and opposition candidate
in the parliamentary elections, is interviewed by RFE/RL, Yerevan,16
Apr 2012.
Gayane Arustamian, a journalist and opposition candidate in the
parliamentary elections, is interviewed by RFE/RL, Yerevan,16 Apr 2012.
Another activist of the main opposition Armenian National Congress
(HAK) claimed on Tuesday to have been attacked by government loyalists
while campaigning in a Yerevan district notorious for election-related
violence and fraud.
Karen Tovmasian said activists of the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia (HHK) in the Malatia-Sebastia district verbally and physically
abused him on Monday as he distributed campaign letters to voters
signed by Nikol Pashinian, an HAK leader running for parliament in
a local single-mandate constituency.
"I realized that they are going to attack me and immediately stopped
the first taxi in sight to flee," Tovmasian told RFE/RL's Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am). "I got in the car and shut the door but
they ...
opened it and wrested 25 letters by Nikol Pashinian, shoving and
hitting me in the process."
"I remember their faces. I saw them coming out of the [nearby] HHK
office," he said.
A national police spokesperson told RFE/RL's Armenian service that
the Malatia-Sebastia police launched an investigation after receiving
a complaint from Tovmasian later on Monday. The police have already
identified the men who stole the letters and summoned them for
interrogation, the official said.
The incident took place the day after three other HAK activists
were reportedly assaulted by supporters of the local HHK candidate
Samvel Aleksanian while handing out the same campaign materials to
Malatia-Sebastia voters.
The activists as well as the HAK leadership accused Aleksanian of
organizing the attack to intimidate the Pashinian campaign. Aleksanian
denied any involvement, however.
In a written statement, the Armenian police said a 41-year-old man
came forward on Monday to state that he bitterly argued with the three
oppositionists and "shoved" two of them, Gayane Arustamian and Babken
Garoyan. The man identified as Vartan V. said he might have injured
them as a result, according to the statement.
Arustamian, who is also a well-known journalist, accused the police of
trying to cover up the violence. She insisted that the HAK activists
were confronted by at least 10 men inside an apartment block. "I
was hit, not shoved, and by two persons," she said. "I remember
their faces."
Garoyan, who suffered a broken nose, gave a similar account. "It
all started when they slapped and punched Gayane," he told RFE/RL's
Armenian service. "There were multiple blows. There wasn't just one
attacker," he added.
All four activists allegedly attacked by Aleksanian's backers are
running for the National Assembly on the HAK ticket under the system of
proportional representation. Arustamian is also an election candidate
in another single-mandate constituency in Yerevan.
Ruzanna Stepanian
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24551596.html
17.04.2012
Armenia - Gayane Arustamian, a journalist and opposition candidate
in the parliamentary elections, is interviewed by RFE/RL, Yerevan,16
Apr 2012.
Gayane Arustamian, a journalist and opposition candidate in the
parliamentary elections, is interviewed by RFE/RL, Yerevan,16 Apr 2012.
Another activist of the main opposition Armenian National Congress
(HAK) claimed on Tuesday to have been attacked by government loyalists
while campaigning in a Yerevan district notorious for election-related
violence and fraud.
Karen Tovmasian said activists of the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia (HHK) in the Malatia-Sebastia district verbally and physically
abused him on Monday as he distributed campaign letters to voters
signed by Nikol Pashinian, an HAK leader running for parliament in
a local single-mandate constituency.
"I realized that they are going to attack me and immediately stopped
the first taxi in sight to flee," Tovmasian told RFE/RL's Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am). "I got in the car and shut the door but
they ...
opened it and wrested 25 letters by Nikol Pashinian, shoving and
hitting me in the process."
"I remember their faces. I saw them coming out of the [nearby] HHK
office," he said.
A national police spokesperson told RFE/RL's Armenian service that
the Malatia-Sebastia police launched an investigation after receiving
a complaint from Tovmasian later on Monday. The police have already
identified the men who stole the letters and summoned them for
interrogation, the official said.
The incident took place the day after three other HAK activists
were reportedly assaulted by supporters of the local HHK candidate
Samvel Aleksanian while handing out the same campaign materials to
Malatia-Sebastia voters.
The activists as well as the HAK leadership accused Aleksanian of
organizing the attack to intimidate the Pashinian campaign. Aleksanian
denied any involvement, however.
In a written statement, the Armenian police said a 41-year-old man
came forward on Monday to state that he bitterly argued with the three
oppositionists and "shoved" two of them, Gayane Arustamian and Babken
Garoyan. The man identified as Vartan V. said he might have injured
them as a result, according to the statement.
Arustamian, who is also a well-known journalist, accused the police of
trying to cover up the violence. She insisted that the HAK activists
were confronted by at least 10 men inside an apartment block. "I
was hit, not shoved, and by two persons," she said. "I remember
their faces."
Garoyan, who suffered a broken nose, gave a similar account. "It
all started when they slapped and punched Gayane," he told RFE/RL's
Armenian service. "There were multiple blows. There wasn't just one
attacker," he added.
All four activists allegedly attacked by Aleksanian's backers are
running for the National Assembly on the HAK ticket under the system of
proportional representation. Arustamian is also an election candidate
in another single-mandate constituency in Yerevan.