Azernews.Az

The persecution of opposition representatives in Armenia continues, opposition leader, former president Levon Ter-Petrosian has said.
He cited as a fact the written order forwarded by the head of a special investigative group Andranik Mirzoyan to the Vayotzdor province prosecutor Ovaness Palian whereby a demand was put forth to investigate actions by the country`s anti-government electorate.
The vast array of measures aimed to crack down on the opposition include identifying the executives and activists of Ter-Petrosian`s election headquarters, collecting their telephone numbers and obtaining courts` approval for phone wiretaps. The prosecution bodies have even demanded that opposition leaders` family members be interrogated. Another demand is to scrutinize the rumors on the support the opposition movement is receiving from neighboring states.
"The authorities have also demanded clarifying whether or not talk is under way among the opposition about Russia`s being squeezed out of Armenia," Ter-Petrosian said.
The ex-president said the document would be distributed among foreign diplomats and representatives of international organizations working in the country. He regarded the paper as "some kind of a constitution" drawn up by the incumbent authorities, branding it as an outright sanctioning of their unlawful actions.
"This just can`t happen in any normal country. If such a document is signed by the chief of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, he could be convicted for life."
Ter-Petrosian said although the document was signed by Andranik Mirzoyan, it was authored by a more powerful person - former Armenian President Robert Kocharian. He called on the new president Serzh Sarkisian to clarify the real source of the document and to take action in this respect.