The wife of the political leader forced to go into hiding

Suzana Alexanyan – 44 years old

She is married to Michael Hairapetyan for 22 years.

She teaches Armenian language and literature.

Michael Hairapetyan is a university professor, philologist and publicist. He started the newspapers “Defender of the Country” - “Ierkrapah” and “The Days” – “Orer”. He was the editor-in-chief of both publications.

Following the events on 27th of October 1999 when MPs were murdered during a meeting that was taking place in the House of Parliament, Michael Hairapetyan gave up writing and kept only his teaching position.

It was not enough. He considered himself a political figure and was always part of the opposition. Even now when he is on the side of Levon Ter-Petrosian he represents the opposition within the opposition.

In the course of Ter-Petrosian’s mandate, Michael was with him in the beginning, but after the government was established, he began to notice the internal irregularities and he began opposing its practices, says Suzana during the conversation we had in her apartment.

Michael Hairapetyan was president of the education department under the Ministry of Education, then leading expert for the Ministry of Defense during the governance of Vasken Sarksyan (former prime minister, murdered in the events on 27th of October 1999 in the Armenian House of Parliament).

If there is something Michael does not agree with, he opposes, it’s impossible for him to be indifferent. He published a series of press articles critical of Levon Ter-Petrosian and the government he headed. He was threatened, beaten up and his typography was set on fire during those years.

Michael worked as a professor at the Technical University. Ten days after the elections, on the 26th or the 27th of February, he decided, along with the students to go on strike to protest against the result of the elections and he stopped going to the university from that moment. He went into hiding as of March 1, upon the insistences of his friends.

As of March 3, the special forces (KGB) began ransacking our home for several days. They found nothing. They took a knife, a cut pappier, which they returned only after the intervention of the US ambassador. That object was a gift from a cousin that lives in the US and it is a decorative object not a weapon as they insinuated. The stamps belonging to the Conservative Party and to its youth organization were seized, and they kept them for two months, without drawing up the relevant minutes. Who knows what they were used for? Suzana wonders.

The Conservative Party of Armenia was founded in 1991. The one who created it was killed in the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, and after his death Michael became president. The Conservative Party is now affiliated to the Armenian National Congress.

On March 1st Michael was in proximity of the Opera House when a group of friends convinced him to go away. The motive of their concern was a video tape Michael had made during the elections. He was working in the region of Sirak with Andranik Hovanesyan who died while he was hiding from state’s bodies of power and with Bedros Makyan who is now in prison and they filmed representatives of the Government bribing the people to vote for them. They wanted to send the tape to the police as evidence of electoral fraud. He did not go into hiding not because he was afraid or because we was cowardly but because he wanted to see what would happen following the broadcasting of their tape. He decided to leave with his friends for 2 or 3 days and wait for things to return to normal.

As of March 3, the special forces looked for him at his domicile for six days, continuing to keep guard in front of the building. It is not known what happened to that movie.

The negative side of this is that he could not continue his work at the university he had never been absent from, Suzana tells me with sadness.

Michael has not returned home since March 1st. Even his wife is afraid to contact him. The telephones are intercepted, and so are the internet connections. Suzana does not want to be responsible if he is caught. She cannot make a living out of her salary but her relatives help her.

Michael’s daughter is a psychology student. She suffers so much for the political prisoners, for those who are jailed and for their wives that she does not even dare to complain about this predicament.

Even if they find it hard, they are used to not having Michael at home because since he is so involved into politics, he would frequently be away. It is hard for them now because they have no news from him. They know from his friends that Michael is well.

What are your activities as wife of a political activist?

Besides taking part in the daily march of protest on the North Boulevard, I also attend the protest organized every Friday in front of the General Prosecutor’s Office, when we file a petition to the General Prosecutor demand that the political prisoners to be liberated and that the charges against them to be dropped. There is also the protest in front of the Council of Europe every time a foreign delegation pays an official visit.

Has anything changed so far?

Nothing changed.

Are you afraid?

No.

His daughter, Hasmic Hairapetyan is 21 years old. She is used not to having her father around. He was always late at night and she would be already asleep when he arrived at home. She has befriended those whose fathers are hiding and who have got ill because they know nothing about their parents. Because she is used to this situation, she is more concerned about her friends than about herself. She is older than the other children and thus she understands that it is not safe for her father to return home.

In the course of the inquisitions, we “helped” the agents in their search to make sure that they did not “plant” anything else in the house, like drugs, guns, or microphones, Hasmic recounts giggling. We would even tell them where to look.

Should Michael show up tomorrow, what do you think would happen to him?

He would be arrested, says Suzana. The General Prosecutor said: “Let him show up and we shall see. I’ll personally tell him what we have against him”.

I have the feeling that this will last forever. Every time I walk on the North Boulevard I gain hope. Afterwards, I come home and think that nothing has changed and nothing will ever change.

The hidden politician or the thorn in the flesh of the establishment

I postponed my return home in order to meet Michael. I was not convinced that he would accept that or that I would get to talk to him. Before the confirmation of my appointment with Michael, I was asked to have a short meeting with one of his intimates, to be convinced I am trustworthy. Without references coming from his friends, I would not have been able to meet him. Afterwards, a great burden laid on me. I wondered whether my presence could harm the ones I met with.

My meeting with Michael had to be delayed because of his health condition. Because he could not get off the bed, he asked me to give him a few days until he would be fit enough to attend our meeting.

On the agreed date, I met with my translator and with his contact person in a dark location in downtown Yerevan. That evening, on the North Boulevard the police was scattering by force the protesters taking part in the daily march. It was not a scene out of the ordinary. We had encircled the courtyard three times before the first car showed up. We changed three cars before getting to the destination and we wandered for an hour in the outskirts of the city. We switched our telephones off and we took the batteries out. I complied because I did not want to be the cause of Michael’s capture. There were cases when fugitives were caught because of the ones who wanted to meet with them.

Michael was waiting for us with a smile on his face, in an apartment under reconstruction that belonged to some friends of his. He was watching cursing through his teeth the Armenian president’s address on the opening of the academic year.

Obviously ill, breathing with difficulty and smoking heavily, Michael enjoyed the moment of our meeting, being thankful that I gave him the opportunity to put on his shoes after six months.

Michael Hairapetyan

For how long have you been hiding?

Since the morning of March 1st.

Why? What are your actions prior to the elections that forced you to hide? Was the movie you shot during the elections the reason why you decided to go into hiding? Were there other motives ass well?

I know this Government very well, and I know what it is capable of. The movie is the reason why I decided to hide. I was in the Opera Square; I got surrounded by policemen that threatened me, so in the morning of March 1st, I left. Another reason was that I had also lead a series of demonstrations. Five of the demonstrations organized during the ten days of protests were lead by me. At a certain point, I lost my voice and someone took my place. Nevertheless, I have never directly attacked anyone in the Government in any of my speeches. For me, it is a political battle, not a personal one. The only attacks were directed against the KGB. I had to do with them in the time of communist; when I was 18, I was arrested for the first time, and they kept me in custody for three months. I am thus certain that the present situation of Armenia is only due to the KGB and its actions, not only here, but also in the entire Caucasus region. Last year, there were a series of anti-KGB protests, and then I furiously attacked them and the actions of Putin whom I called a KGB agent. Luckily, the Western countries had understood that this group is not dead and they noticed the presence of the KGB during the war in Georgia and thus realized they cannot thrust these people.

I decided to give you this interview especially for this reason; to let everyone know that KGB still exists and because I am intrigued that the West still accepts calmly and carelessly the existence of the KGB, here and in other places, even 20 years after the fall of the Soviet empire. Unfortunately, the president we now have was formed in the structures of KGB. And so was the one before him. In other conditions, we might have had the chance to develop as a normal country in a democratic direction, due to our Christian cultural and religious roots. Nowadays we are simply a country surrounded by Islamic states and ruled by the KGB. I consider that the Western states are to blame for this situation, because it is their responsibility too. (In the same way they collaborate with the terrorist, they can also do it with KGB’s structures sometimes.) The West should also have organized a campaign against the soviet KGB, as they did against terrorism.

There is a sign of equality between fascism and communism. If we take a glance at the actual political structures, we can see that they consist only of former communists, or even worse, former communists that are KGB agents too.

When did you start your fight against this regime and what determined you to do this?

I started to fight against the Communist regime in my second year of college. I was help up and interrogated by a KGB major, who is now a judge and who is in charge with the investigation of the files for the ones arrested after the events on the 1st of March. The same guy that served the Communist regime in those times, now serves the interests of Armenia and speaks in the name of the country, and also in the name of democracy and justice. It is the same person that ordered the special forces to search my home. Hence, after 20 years, the Soviet structures still have not disappeared from this country. Russia proved this one more in Georgia. No normal human being would kill ten people on the streets. This is something only the communist Kochearian, supported by the provincial communist Serj Sarkisian, could do.

During the interview, someone in the house received a phone call through which he was announced that while the daily march on the North Boulevard was taking place, the police aggressed the people. This is how Michael reacted:

Actually, I am glad this is happening. I have voted for Levon Ter-Petrosian neither in 1990, nor in 1996. When he became president, he named Kaghig Harutunia -, a former communist who is now the president of the Constitutional Court and who signed the decree for the investiture of Serj Sarkisian as president of Armenia - as vice-president while state of emergency was declared. This shows that there is a form of historical justice. If we could sign a new deal with our own conscience, history could judge and castigate us. In the 300 years of existence, all the tragedies and all the negative social changes Armenia went through have been related to Russia. In all this period I have been hiding, I have written a 780 pages long scientific essay and, if I would publish it, Armenia could finally understand that the cause of all its tragedies is Russia, especially communist Russia. I think I would do something good for this country.

When did you discover that the KGB held the power in Armenia?

In 1982, when Brezhnev died and Andropov came to power. When Levon Ter-Petrosian came to power, there were many demonstrations that asked him to open the archives of the KGB. As a highbrow intellectual who did not want to divide the society, Ter-Petrosian appealed to the human feeling, saying that former KGB agents had children who could be affected by the publishing of the archives. The reason why the Conservative Party is now part of the National Congress is that their priority is to persuade the following governance how important the opening of the archives is. Some of the files have been made public, some have not. Other files were taken to Russia in the beginning of the 1990s. I am convinced that some important files, that we are bound to study and publish, are still in Armenia. We should also make Russia give the files back. In Armenia, there are still officials, high-ranking politicians that are KGB spies. Thus, they don’t serve Armenia’s interests, but KGB’s. Had we not had this structure, we would have had the chance to be a normal, democratic country. But the ten days of peaceful demonstrations led by Levon Ter-Petrosian showed that we, as a nation with a Christian culture, have not died and that we still hope in the achievement of our goals that we are fighting for.

When do you expect this political situation to end? When shall this criminal power disappear?

I am a conservative and I do not want a revolution. It is the worst thing for a conservative. But a revolution of values could put an end to this regime. And if we are referring to the highest level, it shall happen when Russia will cease its domination over this region. But I fear that after Russia has left, a more dangerous power shall come. It could be dominated by the Islamic Iran or by Turkey. During the seven months since I’ve been hiding, I felt the greatest joy when I found out that 18 NATO military ships are on the Black Sea.

Why do you think Russia is interested in Armenia?

Russia is interested only from a geopolitical point of view. It needs an access way. If we look at the history of mankind, from the first war to the last one, everything was about the roads. And Russia is a power of the past. The same is with Russian leaders, Putin and Medvedev. They are not politicians, they are officials. That’s why Western countries are blocked, they don’t know how to address them, how to talk to them. They are bureaucrats and bureaucrats never make mistakes. Political figures try to find exit ways. If Serj Sarksian were a political figure, he would have found many exit ways by now. By he is only an official and Azerian official part of the middle class. If Hitler were only an official, what would have happened? In Armenia we have only one politician and unfortunately he is Levon Ter-Petrosian. And he is to blame for the fact that the country is in this situation.

Why do you say so?

If we have had, let’s say, 20 politicians, the situation would have been different. When Levon Ter-Petrosian convened the first Congress, I had the shortest discourse and I told a story. In Antique Rome, patricians went to war; plebeians took everything the latter had, their houses, their wives. When they came back, they wanted their assets back. Plebeians turned to arms responding that they wouldn’t return their goods and wives. The war between them took months. Then, a wise man told the patricians: “You can not fight against arms with arms, because they can do that as well. Take whips and straddle your horses. When they did so, plebeians dropped their arms, knelt immediately and bent their backs. Unfortunately, we, the only ones who could study the battle, could not continue the way we would have liked to. We do not use arms against their arms. But the arms we speak about is the changing of values and the war shall be the war of values. If we speak to the ones in power about morality, they won’t be capable of understanding.

What happened with the shot made during the elections? Was it published?

It was broadcasted on a TV channel from Gyumri named Gala which was subsequently closed. It is a two-minute shooting, showing the representatives of the ones in power blackmailing the people to vote for Serj Sarksian.

After the film was aired, members of the Conservative Party were held up by the KGB for declarations. Their main question was not “where is Michael hiding?”, but “why is Michael so rude? Why is he against us?” And this because they do not fight with the same arms, with arms against arms. Since the 1st of March I am permanently in touch with the members of the Conservative Party both from here and from other countries, even with the Pope and this due to Bill Gates (he laughed).

How was all this period for you?

It is the first time that I do not attend the opening of the academic year. For the first time in my life, I did not have a 1st of September. But I worked 18 hours a day on the book I hope to publish, I inquired about the situation of the political prisoners and I went on hunger strike together with them when they did so. I couldn’t physically participate at all the demonstrations, but I said a prayer at the beginning of every demonstrations. And this, because it has become a sort of tradition, during the 10 days of protest, to start the meetings with a prayer and Aram Manukyan told me at a certain point that it was a great tradition and that I should keep it up.

What do you think could happen to you, if the KGB apprehended you?

It will be very difficult for them to arrest me, became they have nothing to accuse me of. They can not formulate an accusation against me..

If you decided to return home tomorrow and continue your ordinary life, go to the university and so on, what do you could happen to you?

I won’t be arrested, I’d be accidentally hit by a car or shot. But only accidentally, because this way, they won’t need to give any explanations. I still bother them. They would love to forget about me, but I do not let them to and I still publish articles against them.

Where do you publish such articles?

Since the 1st of March I published 48 articles in a newspaper belonging to the Armenian community in the United States called “Armenian Times”. Nicol Pashinian is its editor-in-chief and he is as well hiding, bearing various accusations. I published the other articles in newspapers belonging to the opposition. This is the way I tease the nerves of the ones in power. I am still a teacher and I have to teach. I educate even Serj Sarksian who is using phrases from my articles during his speeches. I am a philologist and I am ashamed of Serj Sarksian’s performance. I am ashamed as well to tell that I am a university professor because all my colleagues are corrupt. I am ashamed to say that I am a philologist, because so is the idiot Serj Sarksian. Who am I? I do not know any more.

When will all this end?

Within a month, I guess. Or, I could bet that when you publish your article, there shall be war in Caucasus. And this regime shall fall. Levon Ter-Petrosian is a wise personality. When he gave up the power in 1998, he said in his final discourse: “A party of peace is leaving and a party of war shall come” The speed of this war depends on many things, the first is Iran’s schizophrenia with regard to the atomic bomb, the presidential elections in Azerbaidjan and the result of the elections in America. It is not accidental that there are NATO submarines in the Black See. Then, Serj Sarksian shall kill Robert Kochearian with his own hands. One can feel the breath of new wars. It is about Russia’s policy as well and its wars, and the Western countries are not very interested in overcoming such wars. Russia shall solve its problems and interests even if the price to be paid is the life of Georgians and Ossetians. Saakashvili is not exactly a politician and a diplomat. The West shall of course have a lot to win from this game, because Iran’s problem shall be solved, but it does not consider the price that shall be paid, the many innocent people who will die.

Aren’t you afraid to make such previsions?

So far I have not been mistaken when I made predictions. I might have been wrong with regard to the period or date but not with regard to the events. The worst part is that I cannot prevent the events I speak about. But the result shall be Russia’s withdrawal from this region and this is the price of liberty. You have seen the scene form the American movie. Two men, one old and one young, escape from the prison and are forced to pass through the sewerage dirty waters and shit. When the young guy, being up to the waist in the shit, complaints to his disgust, what the f…k smell is this, the old man says. “This is the smell of freedom, boy!”

Thus, we are now in that dirt, which we can even taste. We know the smell and taste of this liberty. The word “kiss” in Armenian language unites both smell and taste and if there is a kiss, it has both taste and smell.

Why do you think that all these political leaders and supporters of the opposition were arrested and imprisoned? In order to give a lesson or in order to frighten the ones in power?

Should it not have initiated the events of the March 1st, the present government would have lost power, it wouldn’t have won. We have questioned at the Constitutional Court the result of the elections. If they hadn’t declared the state of emergency, they would have lost the power. So they arrested most of the active politicians and they have forced others to hide, to disappear. Now we are in the position of not being able to win through legal means. We can not go on the same way. Levon Ter-Petrosian has chosen the most intelligent means of continuing the battle, establishing this Congress, reuniting all the opposition parties. Besides that, I have predicted that this Congress, the idea comes from the Congress created by Mahatma Gandhi, to which it resembles very much. And we have to win the power through other means that the one used by Serj Sarksian.

Why do you think people haven’t given up protest?

Why should they give up? It is true that they are bored. Sleeping is normal, it is organic. Now there is no chance of gathering 200,000 people with whom to march along. They do not want that. Now it’s time for us to sleep. Do you remember what Christ said in his last night? He said: “This is you day. Do what you please and do it fast.” This is Serj Sarksian’s day. Whatever he would like to do, he should do it fast. Our duty now, is to pray and to prevent the fire from dying out. If they sleep a bit, when they get up they shall smash the bones of power. When the sun rises, the demons shall disappear.

When I got to the apartment where I met Michael, he was watching Serj Sarkisian’s speech on TV and he was amusing himself terribly on Serj Sarkisian’s accent and on the fact that latter had “stolen” phrases from his articles. Personally, I have nothing against this man, I do not hate him, but I can’t help amusing myself when I listen to him and I’m glad to hear my ideas coming out of his mouth.

What was the phrase belonging to you uttered by Serj Sarksian?

The phrase sounds like this: “At the same time, I dream about the day when people stopped wishing for expensive cars, but they will want to have the ideals of the ones owning those expensive cars” and he quoted it in front of the students at the opening of the academic year. I cried when I heard the phrase, because it was the first time when I haven’t heard the bell ringing.

Why did you choose not to sleep?

I’d like to sleep. But the determination of staying awake is in my genes. I’d like to sleep, but I’m a fighter for justice. This is my cross and I have to bear it. Otherwise my children would judge me. I shall have time to sleep, when everything will be fine in Armenia. I dream about retiring in a remote village and teaching in a school of 20 pupils. But I shall need a computer and Internet; otherwise I cannot make it. (He laughed)

On the 1st of March, when the police surrounded the square and started beating people up, there were many policemen around me, but none of them approached me. Four of my friends encircled me and got me out of there. I was wearing a green jacket, which I wore during all those 10 days of demonstrations. All the policemen knew me and they knew my jacket as well. Nobody approached me. They were beating everybody up but me. They let me leave and I managed to get out of there. I called home and I told them that the first phase had ended, I new one was about to begin and that they were not supposed to wait for me to go home. I have been missing for a few days. I went to a friend's place, I haven’t slept for ten days, I was hungry and I was looking forward to getting rid of my boots, to taking them off. I couldn’t bear them in my feet anymore. I haven’t put them on since then, because I'm not going anywhere. After ten days, my friend brought me a coffee, I drank it and I fell asleep. My friends covered me and lifted my feet on the couch. I woke up at seven o’clock, when somebody was talking on the phone. I turned on the radio to find out what was happening.

How many hideouts have you changed so far?

From my friend’s house I moved to a place where I stood for a month; then to another place where I've remained until now. Now I am here meeting you. I do not have any problem with being caught. I am used to being accused since I was a child. I only have to play by the rules imposed by the state of a fugitive. I was the contact person of the others who were hiding. I made them a proposal, to get all out one day and meet Hammarberg (the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg) but I only got answer from Aram Manukyan, so the plan was abandoned. Had it happened, the government would have immediately fallen, because it wouldn’t have known how to react in such a situation.

At present, of the ones who are not officially accused, Michael Hairapetyan is the only one still hiding.

Following the investigations made after the events of the 1st and 2nd of March the Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit (PACE), international body, part of the structures of the Council of Europe, indicates the presence of the political prisoners in Armenia, an inacceptable phenomenon for the Council of Europe and the entire civilised world.

The resolutions formulated by the Monitoring Committee and by PACE, 1609 (2008) and 1620 (2008), recommended sanctions for the Armenian delegation and the immediate solution of the issue. The Parlamentary Assembly considered that progress had been insufficient and remains seriously concerned regardly the crisis that ensued after the presidential election on February 2008 and by the situation of persons deprived on their liberty, charged and imprisoned relationed to the events of March 1 and 2 2008, for political motivations. The report concerning the political situation has been discussed during the Winter Plenary Session, which was taking place during January 26-30, 2009, the Assambly decided not to suspend the voting rights for the members of the Armenian Parlamentary delegation on the Resolution 1643, adopted on January 27, 2009, but recommends to revise the Articles 225 and 300 of the Criminal Code of Armenia , in accordance with European Council standards. Under these Articles, 59 persons are charged and imprisoned, in relation to the events of March 1 and 2 2008. Armenia must implement the demands until the April 2009’s session of the Parlamentary Assambbly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

Armenia started the battle for Independence in 1988, when the Karabakh Movement appeared. It later became the Panarmenian movement, the president of which was Levon Ter-Petrosian. The year 1988 is also the year when the War of Nagorno-Karabakh began, which triggered all the changes on the political scene of Armenia.

On the 23 rd of August 1990, Armenia’s Declaration of Independence was read for the first time by those who were until then construed as extremists and who were part of the Karabakh Committee. It is them who later became MPs of Independent Armenia.

September 21, 1991 is the date of the Referendum for independence, when 100% of the voters said “Yes”, Armenia becoming Independent State. 16th of October the same year, the first presidential elections were organized and they were won by Levon Ter-Petrosian. His mandate ended after five years when he was reelected president of Armenia.

“A party of peace is leaving and a party of war shall come” was declaring Levon Ter-Petrosian on the day his resignation from the position of president of on the 3rd of February 1998. The reason of his resignation was the inner disorder. Levon Ter-Petrosian’s name is connected to the War in Karabakh and all the dark period, of famine, cold and all kinds of privations the Armenian people encountered. From the winter of the year 1991 until 1995, Armenia underwent one of the greatest crisis generated by war, the population being deprived of food, heating in their homes and being forced to cut trees from the streets for heating purposes. They lack as well electricity and water. Besides, even now there are problems with the electricity supply and running water in apartments, even in the capital city. For all this, Petrosian was blamed whilst the opposition took advantages from it in order to eliminate him from power.

The anticipated presidential elections brought Robert Kochearian as head of the state and he led Armenia throughout two mandates. His coming to power did not escape incidents, the Parliament being “cleared” from uncomfortable members, including the prime minister, on October 27, 1999 when the notorious “Parliament shooting” was committed. Nairi Hunanyan together with a group of five armed men entered the Armenian Parliament and they fired against the MPs, seven of whom were killed, plus the prime minister. Hunanyan, unknown until that day, stated, referring to Vasken Sakisian, Armenia’s: “We have got rid of a monster”. Vazgen Sargsian’s death and the death of his spokesman Karen Demirchian, two of the ones who were killed and who were also leaders of the Republican Party and, respectively of the People’s Party is considered a conspiracy masterminded by Robert Kochearian, who could benefit from the elimination of his political competitors.

Robert Kochearian led Armenia until February 2008 when presidential elections were held.

Serj Sarksian is at the moment the elected president of Armenia, but his coming into power is brought into questioning and it cost the death of 10 persons, generating events which changed the society and the political scene of Armenia.