Armenians complain of their government
By Rashid Shirinov
After the events around the seizure of a police station by Sasna Tsrer group, another wave of protests raised up in Armenian. Hundreds of ordinary people and opposition members are making anti-governmental statements at rallies and in social networks. However, the government ignore the matter.
“The rebels of Sasna Tsrer group in a very short time made a revolution in our public consciousness and achieved an incredible result,” leader of the radical opposition initiative Pre-Parliament Garegin Chugaszian told in his recent interview.
The protesters demand from the government to put an end to tortures against political prisoners and to release them, to launch immediately political dialogue and reforms, to form the national transitional government. They also demand the resignation of President Serzh Sargsyan and holding of special election.
“Sasna Tsrer is not just a revolutionary movement, it is the requirement and the movement of all Armenian people," said the Member of Armenian Parliament from party Heritage, Zaruhi Postanjyan. Regardless of the fact that Pavlik Manukyan and Araik Handoyan, the symbols of Sasna Tsrer, are wounded and arrested, the fight against the government will continue, she assured. "Armenian society should be ready for the second stage of the uprising."
The deplorable situation in the country was also mentioned by the first Ombudsperson of Armenia Larisa Alaverdyan. “The Armenian authorities are doing everything to make society radical. Recent events revealed that the government does not want and is not ready to go to dialogue with society,” she noted.
Moreover, protection of human rights in Armenia is at a low level. “Our judicial system is unable to protect human rights,” lawyer Seda Safaryan noted.
Canadian actress of Armenian origin Arsine Khanjian also raised this problem after she was without-any-reason detained by police during participation in a peaceful demonstration in Yerevan. The actress said then that she witnessed massive violation of human rights in Armenia.
The number of such statements of dissatisfaction among Armenian population is enormous. However, in spite of the demand for resignation of the government, the head of the country decided to dismiss the attorney General and the head of the Investigation Department of Armenian NSS. This was apparently made to calm down the population and as much as possible postpone his own resignation, Armenians believe.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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