Tweet
HOVANNISIAN FORCED OUT OF PARTY HEADQUARTERS
By Anna Saghabalian and Ruzanna Stepanian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 30 2006
Law-enforcement officials forced opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian
to leave the headquarters of his Zharangutyun (Heritage) party
on Tuesday less than 24 hours after allowing him to re-enter the
premises controversially sealed off by the Armenian authorities three
months ago.
Hovannisian and a group of his close associates locked themselves
in the Zharangutyun offices in downtown Yerevan late Monday, defying
eviction orders from the Service for Mandatory Execution of Judicial
Acts of the Armenian Ministry of Justice. They denounced the orders
as illegal, citing an injunction issued by a Yerevan court on April 14.
The injunction effectively annulled a March 4 decision by a state-run
theater, from which Hovannisian has leased the offices for over 15
years, to lock Zharangutyun out of its headquarters. It said that no
restrictive action can be taken against the property until the court
rules on a lawsuit filed by Hovannisian against the theater management.
According to the Zharangutyun leadership, this means the party
can regain control of the premises at least until the end of the
litigation. The Justice Ministry bailiffs, who took more than 40 days
to enforce the court order, did not object to this interpretation as
they reopened the Zharangutyun offices on Monday.
But they returned to the scene several hours later, claiming that the
party leaders were only supposed to briefly inspect their offices and
then leave them. They managed to force Hovannisian and his loyalists
out after two-hour negotiations the next morning.
"We let the plaintiff in yesterday to see if their property is
intact. But after that they illegally entered [the offices] and
refused to leave," a senior bailiff, Vahram Yenokian, told RFE/RL.
Hovannisian insisted, however, that the bailiffs' actions are illegal
and politically motivated. "Six hours after diligently implementing
the court order, the bailiffs received an order from another body,"
he said. "With their about-turn, they showed that justice in this
country is still a bubble."
Hovannisian, who had served as Armenia's first foreign minister
in 1992, regards the eviction as a government retaliation for his
December open letter to President Robert Kocharian which effectively
implicated the latter in high-profile political murders and electoral
fraud. Zharangutyun, which is expected to be a major opposition
contender in next year's parliamentary election, has accused the
authorities of systematically harassing and bullying its activists
across the country in recent months.
Hovannisian sent on Tuesday a letter to Armenia's top law-enforcement
officials demanding a criminal investigation into his claims that
government agents illegally accessed Zharangutyun computers and
stole confidential data shortly after the party was locked out of
its offices.
"It now becomes evident as to how the 'national security' bodies and
the local lackeys of the incumbent presidency were able to obtain
relevant information about the party's support base nationwide,"
the party said in a separate statement. "As is widely known, the
persecution and pressure upon the local divisions of the Zharangutyun
Party have increased since the middle of March, with party members
being threatened and ordered to leave the party."
A spokesman for the Armenian police told RFE/RL later in the day
that Hayk Harutiunian, chief of the national Police Service, has
received Hovannisian's letter and ordered a police division to look
into the allegations.
Armenia's human rights ombudsman, Armen Harutiunian, also pledged to
"examine these reports in detail." "If what you are telling me is true,
then there was a violation [of the law] and we will react to that,"
he told RFE/RL. "But there needs to be a forensic examination to
determine whether somebody used that computer and other details."
Harutiunian reacted extremely cautiously to the allegations about
a nationwide persecution of Zharangutyun activists, saying that he
can only comment on "concrete facts." "Frankly, I always avoid making
generalized evaluations because I believe that is wrong as very often
there are subjective approaches involved," said the former presidential
adviser. "I have to try to look at the issue more objectively."
By Anna Saghabalian and Ruzanna Stepanian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 30 2006
Law-enforcement officials forced opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian
to leave the headquarters of his Zharangutyun (Heritage) party
on Tuesday less than 24 hours after allowing him to re-enter the
premises controversially sealed off by the Armenian authorities three
months ago.
Hovannisian and a group of his close associates locked themselves
in the Zharangutyun offices in downtown Yerevan late Monday, defying
eviction orders from the Service for Mandatory Execution of Judicial
Acts of the Armenian Ministry of Justice. They denounced the orders
as illegal, citing an injunction issued by a Yerevan court on April 14.
The injunction effectively annulled a March 4 decision by a state-run
theater, from which Hovannisian has leased the offices for over 15
years, to lock Zharangutyun out of its headquarters. It said that no
restrictive action can be taken against the property until the court
rules on a lawsuit filed by Hovannisian against the theater management.
According to the Zharangutyun leadership, this means the party
can regain control of the premises at least until the end of the
litigation. The Justice Ministry bailiffs, who took more than 40 days
to enforce the court order, did not object to this interpretation as
they reopened the Zharangutyun offices on Monday.
But they returned to the scene several hours later, claiming that the
party leaders were only supposed to briefly inspect their offices and
then leave them. They managed to force Hovannisian and his loyalists
out after two-hour negotiations the next morning.
"We let the plaintiff in yesterday to see if their property is
intact. But after that they illegally entered [the offices] and
refused to leave," a senior bailiff, Vahram Yenokian, told RFE/RL.
Hovannisian insisted, however, that the bailiffs' actions are illegal
and politically motivated. "Six hours after diligently implementing
the court order, the bailiffs received an order from another body,"
he said. "With their about-turn, they showed that justice in this
country is still a bubble."
Hovannisian, who had served as Armenia's first foreign minister
in 1992, regards the eviction as a government retaliation for his
December open letter to President Robert Kocharian which effectively
implicated the latter in high-profile political murders and electoral
fraud. Zharangutyun, which is expected to be a major opposition
contender in next year's parliamentary election, has accused the
authorities of systematically harassing and bullying its activists
across the country in recent months.
Hovannisian sent on Tuesday a letter to Armenia's top law-enforcement
officials demanding a criminal investigation into his claims that
government agents illegally accessed Zharangutyun computers and
stole confidential data shortly after the party was locked out of
its offices.
"It now becomes evident as to how the 'national security' bodies and
the local lackeys of the incumbent presidency were able to obtain
relevant information about the party's support base nationwide,"
the party said in a separate statement. "As is widely known, the
persecution and pressure upon the local divisions of the Zharangutyun
Party have increased since the middle of March, with party members
being threatened and ordered to leave the party."
A spokesman for the Armenian police told RFE/RL later in the day
that Hayk Harutiunian, chief of the national Police Service, has
received Hovannisian's letter and ordered a police division to look
into the allegations.
Armenia's human rights ombudsman, Armen Harutiunian, also pledged to
"examine these reports in detail." "If what you are telling me is true,
then there was a violation [of the law] and we will react to that,"
he told RFE/RL. "But there needs to be a forensic examination to
determine whether somebody used that computer and other details."
Harutiunian reacted extremely cautiously to the allegations about
a nationwide persecution of Zharangutyun activists, saying that he
can only comment on "concrete facts." "Frankly, I always avoid making
generalized evaluations because I believe that is wrong as very often
there are subjective approaches involved," said the former presidential
adviser. "I have to try to look at the issue more objectively."