Armenia's bloody March 2008 events remain a mystery

Thursday, February 24, 2011

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News


The committees investigating post-election violence in Armenia are struggling to continue their work, with international human rights organizations pressing for an immediate resolution to the dispute. Although some political prisoners have been released, the nine people who are being held responsible for the events of March 1, 2008, are still under arrest.

It has been three years since the bloody events of March 2008, when riot police clashed with thousands of people demonstrating in the streets of the capital Yerevan against what they perceived as Armenia’s rigged presidential elections two weeks before, leaving several dead. Much of the violence occurred in Yerevan’s Liberty Square.

Of the nine people accused of being responsible for the riots, there are three prominent names: Sarkis Hazspanian, Nikol Pashinian and Sasun Mikaelian.

A citizen of France, Hazspanian had a leading role during the events at Liberty Square. Pashinian is editor-in-chief of one of the country’s prominent newspapers, Haygagan Jamanag (Armenian Times). Mikaelian was a deputy from President Sarkisian's party, Hanrabedagan Gusagzsutyun (Republican Party).

Hazspanian, under arrest in Vardashen Prison a few kilometers outside of Yerevan, Pashinian's wife and Pashinian’s attorney recently responded to questions from the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review by e-mail. Although Pashinian wanted to answer questions himself, he could not since he was kept in a cell and was not allowed to send out any written document, even by means of his attorney. Mikaelian abstained from responding to the Daily News’ questions.

Pashinian in danger

Pashinian’s lawyer, Vahe Grigorian, and his wife, Anna Hakopian-Pashinian, spoke to the Daily News about the editor’s situation what they said were unjust limitations on his visiting hours. Grigorian said the case against his client openly violates the 34th article of the Human Rights Declaration and the 18th article of the Armenian Constitution.

"I am not even allowed to see my client alone to discuss the course of the trial. This is an open violation of human rights,” said Grigorian.

Hakopian-Pashinian claimed that her husband has been assaulted several times in the last two months by some “masked people” at the Artig prison, where he is kept, adding that she fears for his life.

Haygagan Jamanag, Pashinian’s newspaper, is the one of the best-selling newspapers in the country, known for its support of Armenia’s first president Levon Der Bedrosian. Pashinian has written severely critical articles about Armenian President Sarkisian and his predecessor, Robert Kocharian.

Pashinian is under trial for “causing public mayhem” under the 225th article of the Armenian Criminal Law. A separate case regarding how Armenia has treated Pashinian’s case was taken to the European Court of Human Rights at the end of November.

‘The world just watches’

Hazspanian, a French citizen whose country is working for his release, was imprisoned after he gave an interview in November 2008, published in the Haygagan Jamanag, in which he said some people might be planning to assassinate Sarkisian. For his interview, he was prosecuted for “false information” under Article 333 of Armenian Criminal Law.

“I talked about possibilities, an event that was enough for my arrest,” Hazspanian told the Daily News.

Hazspanian holds former Armenian President Robert Kocharian responsible for the events of March 2008. Hazspanian says he was once in close contact with Kocharian.

"Kocharian held his office for ten years. During those feudal years, reminiscent of Mediaeval Europe, the parliament was raided twice and the country was led into chaos,” said Hazspanian.

He said the presidential elections were tampered with and “they started to put people under arrest who were only using their constitutional rights, attending meetings and causing no disarray. On election day, the members of the opposition, embassy employees, diplomats and journalists were assaulted.”

"We fought for justice and democracy. Random people were assaulted during the events, and Liberty Square was the stage of many a violent act,” said Hazspanian.

He also said the investigation committees do not do much in the case investigation, and they were abolished by President Sarkisian himself as the truth started to surface. He also said he believes international public opinion has been callous toward the events, adding that he, along with the others, is being kept in jail despite his innocence.

“The world just watches it. Nothing makes sense anymore,” said Hazpanian.