A Political Prisoner in Armenia?
It’s been brought to my attention that a web site in support of Vahe Grigoryan, the human rights lawyer defending the rights of citizens standing in the way of the largest ever land grab by government officials and oligarchs in central Yerevan, is online. Grigoryan was arrested by the former KGB, the National Security Service, accused of fraud.
His supporters, however, claim that he is a political prisoner.
Vahe Grigorian, attorney representing the interests of the citizens, forcefully exiled from their homes has been arrested and imprisoned on October 8, 2005 in Yerevan.
Article 28 of Constitution of the Republic of Armenia declares: “Everyone is entitled to private property and inheritance…” Vahe Grigorian is the person who had the courage to undertake the protection of this basic human right. For more than one year he used all the possible means to reach the justice in Armenia. Confronted by the state authorities he applied to the European Court of Human Rights. Then the state revealed its true face and used all possible illegal tools to cease his activities. The state authorities concocted false criminal accusations and arrested Vahe Grigorian.
The case of Vahe Grigorian is the frontier which is crucial for the Protection of Human Rights and Democracy in Armenia.
In particular, the use of the former KGB to protect what many believe are the personal interests of the rich and powerful in Armenia is causing significant concern among many civil and human rights activists. Armenia Now also covers this case here and here. Incidently, RFE/RL’s Emil Danielyan recently wrote an article on the resurrection of the former KGB’s traditional soviet-era role for the Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor.
For more information on Vahe Grigoryan’s arrest, access http://www.vahegrigoryan.org.
