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Armenia's rulers in panic over secret letter to PACE

6 March 2015 13:26 (UTC+04:00)
Armenia's rulers in panic over secret letter to PACE

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

The newly leaked letter which was sent by political figures to an influential European institution in mid-February has become the subject of much controversy in Armenia's political circles.

The letter essentially highlighted the depth of the recent government versus opposition scandal, putting the focus on the government-led culture of repression and oppression.

"What’s happening in Armenia is clearly political persecution and repression,” said the letter addressed to President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Anne Brasseur by three members of Armenia’s National Assembly - Naira Zohrabyan and Vahe Hovhannisyan of the Prosperous Armenia Party and Levon Zurabyan of the Armenian National Congress.

The lawmakers informed Brasseur about the types of methods used against members of the opposition such as kidnapping, brutalization, harassment and other harrowing treatments.

President Serzh Sargsyan's behavior in a brawl with opposition leader Gagik Tsarukyan was called “an all-out war against Armenia’s second largest political force, the Prosperous Armenia Party” in the letter.

The reads Sargsyan has publicly avowed that he will do everything in his power to deny Tsarukyan the right to engage in political activity just because he has publicly refused to support the constitutional changes suggested by the president.

On February 12, in his warm speech, Sargsyan exposed his bigotry against Tsarukyan when he called him an "evil" for Armenia's statehood, and hinted to the latter's imminent "neutralization." The speech set into motion a series of events that jeopardized the existence of one of the most powerful opposition parties in the country.

"This is obvious political persecution against a person refusing to welcome prolongation of Sargsyan's grip on power for another 10 years," said the authors of the letter.

Lawmakers went on to express their hopes that PACE would publically react and act on their behalf as to prevent a further slip into authoritarianism.

"The situation is potentially explosive, and the right kind of rebuke and strong cautionary statements from PACE president may prevent serious confrontation and turmoil," the letter concludes.

Two days after the letter was sent, Brasseur, on February 18, responded, saying: “There should be no place for politically motivated use of physical violence and of administrative harassment in democratic societies.”

Brasseur said the Monitoring Committee of the Assembly will absolutely take the letter into account in the preparation of the report on the Honoring of Obligations and Commitments by Armenia.

The PACE president added that developments surrounding the situation of the opposition leaders and activists in Armenia will be under her close focus.

Brasseur promised to raise the issue during the high-level meetings within her visit to Armenia scheduled for this April.

Meanwhile, tycoon Tsarukyan announced his resignation as chairman of the Prosperous Armenia party at an extraordinary congress of the Armenia's second largest party on March 5.

In a post-congress statement, Tsarukyan also heralded his retirement from active politics, saying that he stepped back from political struggle because he saw the limit of his power and did not want to see bloodshed in Armenia.

Naira Zohrabyan, who was elected to fill Tsarukyan shoes as party leader, declared that the PAP will be a pure opposition party from now on.

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Follow Mushvig Mehdiyev on Twitter: @Mushviggo

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