The 1st politician – Avetis Avakian, executive of Levon Ter-Petrosian, the first president of Armenia
Avetis Avakian was talking with Arsak Banouchyan in the ANM (Armenian National Movement Party) headquarters. They are discussing the details of organizing a protest meeting that was to take place in front of Matenadaran, on the 15th of September.
What is the reason for organizing these protests?
Avetis Avakian: We are facing a double situation: on one hand, we are building our structure, on the other hand, we are organizing protests. We have a few demands for the government, including the release of political prisoners, of our friends. At the time being, 59 political activists are imprisoned (at the time when the interview was maded were 74), some of them have been convicted, the others haven't. At first, 130 people were detained, but some of them gout out on parole. We've always pleaded for decisions that avoid any sort of conflict and we've done everything possible to find such solutions. We are prepared to negotiate with the government in order to find solutions, but only after our friends have been released from prison. And we request the discharge of political prisoners, the change of our political system, president Serj Sarksian' resignation and anticipatory elections.
Why does the Movement consider this regime to be a criminal one?
Avetis Avakian: We have lots of arguments to claim this and the most important and cruel example are the March 1st events, when the regime used weapons against unarmed people and, consequently, 10 people died. Though a investigation commission was created, nobody has been accused, investigated or charged till now, and there haven't been any convictions yet. This is only one example, only one episode, a horrific one. But there are others as well if we take into consideration the economical situation or the composition of our Parliament. Many of our leaders are criminals, with one or more convictions. We can also mention their attitude during the elections, when they used force and made threats, as methods of intimidation. They took the police into the polls to beat our representatives, removed them from the polls and stole the ballot boxes. That happened in almost every poll. Moreover, the killings of political personalities from the Opposition haven't been solved yet. Such examples can go on and on and nobody knows who holds the guilt.
How many protest meetings have been held by the Movement until now?
Avetis Avakian: Three protest meetings were held, but we requested approval for 80. We were rejected 80 times. Our protests are always unaggressive, non violent, we never broke any of the country's laws, we never made use of force, no car and no window were touched during our meetings.
Mister Nikoyan, are there still political prisoners left in Armenia? The Opposition confirms their existence.
Samuel Nikoyan: I'm not sharing the same opinion. As president of this commission, I would've preferred for other preventive measures to be taken. We have to understand that this situation was caused by political leaders. When somebody is shouting: "Don't be afraid, we have to win, he is our president (Levon Ter-Petrosian) and not the other one, we will definitely win" in front of 10.000 people, instigating the population, he has to be accountable for his actions. And for such actions, criminal liability is legally provided. They are indeed political leaders. But I am also a politician and if I say let's get together 10.000, 20.000 people and I tell them that if we keep up the fight, we will gain the power in one month time, and I tell them this after the elections, what I really tell them is that change can be made only by force.
How many of them were arrested at first and how many are still in jail?
Samuel Nikoyan: All cases went to trial. Most of them got convicted. 20 lawsuits are in the pipeline and another 7 are expected to be opened.
The Government discussed a possible amnesty for political prisoners. What can you tell me about this?
Samuel Nikoyan: They haven't released an official statement, because amnesty has to be applied to all political prisoners. It's to early to talk about this.
I spent the day of September 12th, before the meeting, inside the Opposition. After a visit to the Armenian National Movement's headquarters, I descended to the basement of an old house, the meeting place of the Movement's youth wing, called "Hima" ("Now"). I assisted at the discussions and at the preparations for the distribution of fliers that announced the September 15th protest among the population and I followed them on the streets of Yerevan as they were handing them out. It was an entirely approved and legitimate action. Like the one that took place during the evening, when young “Hima” members announced the same protest, walking through the center of the capital with flags and megaphones. After a group of policemen managed to end the first manifestation, another one followed and ended up in acts of aggression, the confiscation of the fliers and the detention of two of the protesters, who were thrown into a police van. Fortunately, the two were released after a couple of hours, without signs of physical abuse. It wouldn't have been something unusual. One of them, Narek Hovakimyan had been detained and brutally beaten lots of times before for taking part in such actions.
