Armenia protesters mark deadly violence
YEREVAN – Thousands of Armenian anti-government protesters took to the streets of Yerevan on Tuesday to mark the third anniversary of the country’s worst political violence since independence.
Opposition leader and former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan said at the rally that after the post-election violence three years ago, the incumbent regime seized power "in criminal ways". He believes that the country has since been governed as a dictatorship and there have been widespread violations of free speech and basic human rights.
The opposition had refused to recognize the outcome of the February 19, 2008 presidential election won by then Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, saying it was rigged and taking to the streets. During the putdown of the mass protests on March 1-2, 10 people were killed. Following the elections, a state of emergency was announced in Armenia and hundreds of people were arrested.
Ter-Petrosyan called for a release of all political prisoners in Armenia ahead of the Council of Europe co-rapporteurs’ visit to the country, due March 15.
He also demanded establishing an independent international commission to investigate the 2008 violence or resuming the work of the fact-finding mission involving international experts.
The former president also called for providing compensation worth $1 million to the families of those killed during the protests and $100,000 for those wounded.
Ter-Petrosyan said further that the government’s policy on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh pursued in past years has essentially made a negotiated settlement of the dispute impossible and "the situation has reached the edge of new conflict".
He also blamed the authorities for anarchy, lawlessness and increasing poverty.
Organizers of the opposition rally said the movement of traffic from Yerevan’s suburbs to the Armenian capital was blocked on Tuesday, charging that the government was thus trying to prevent people from joining the protest.
The opposition plans to stage another protest on March 17.
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