Arrest of Government Critic on Coup Charges prompts Concerns
Following the arrest of Lebanese-Armenian Zhirayr Sefilyan, Eurasianet has just published my article on the background to the Karabakh war veteran’s detention. Sefilyan was detained in an armed swoop by masked agents from the National Security Service (NSS) in a Yerevan restaurant at the weekend and is accused of planning a coup d’etat.
As political tensions in Armenia rise ahead of next year’s parliamentary elections, the arrest of a former Nagorno-Karabakh military commander critical of the Armenian government’s talks with Azerbaijan is raising fresh concerns about how the vote will be conducted.
In a December 10 raid carried out by masked agents of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) at a Yerevan restaurant, Zhirayr Sefilian, an ethnic Armenian from Lebanon, was taken into custody on charges of plotting a government coup. Sefilian, a former commander in Armenia’s war with Azerbaijan over the predominantly ethnic Armenian breakaway territory of Karabakh, is a decorated, hard-line war hero. He is an outspoken opponent of any deal with Azerbaijan that includes the return of territory currently under Armenian control. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
[…]
Pro-opposition media outlets have reported that dozens of members of Sefilian’s Union of Armenian Volunteers, a small nationalist group opposed to concessions with Azerbaijan, were also temporarily detained in separate raids.
Armenia’s main opposition parties see the arrest as a warm-up for crackdowns against government critics prior to the country’s May 2007 parliamentary elections, or against those who would question the vote’s conduct. In a December 11 statement, they accused the government of resorting to Soviet-style repression to stamp out political dissent. The government has not yet responded to the accusation.
The arrest has also set off alarm bells in nationalist circles, which see Sefilian’s detention as linked to his position on the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations. Recent statements from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the talks’ mediator, indicatedthat the basic principles for the resolution of the conflict are close to being finalized. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
[…]
The full article in English is here, and a Russian translation is here.
Armenia Now also has an article on Sefilyan’s arrest, and again concentrates on the issue of territory surrounding Karabakh that connexts it to Armenia. Of course, the matter of the 2007 Parliamentary Elections should not be underestimated as one of Sefilyan’s own people explained yesterday, but anyway. Whichever way you look at it, the matter is directly or indirectly rooted in Karabakh.
Incidently I still can’t get over this paragaraph and quote from the Armenia Now article. Totally outrageous. Really unbelievable, and that’s saying something considering how the authorities usually try to control the media.
Ever wonder why most journalists practise self-censorship in Armenia? In most countries a direct instruction from the president’s office telling journalists to stay away from a story would be like waving a red rag at a bull, but in Armenia…
Anyway, Armenia Now’s piece is here.
Comment by Onnik — December 15, 2006 @ 12:01 am
Comment by Onnik — December 15, 2006 @ 5:36 pm
Comment by Onnik — December 15, 2006 @ 11:33 pm
COMITE DE SOUTIEN POUR LA LIBERATION DE JIRAYR DER SEFILYAN ET VARDAN MALKHASYAN
Comite-de-Soutien-pour-la-Liberation-de-Jirayr-Der-Sefilyan.doc
Comite-de-Soutien-pour-la-Liberation-de-Jirayr-der-Sefilyan.pdf
Comment by haybachdban — December 16, 2006 @ 1:42 pm
(A1+ Reports Protest Action On December 22nd in Yerevan)
The coordinating group of the Movement supporting Zhirayr Sefilyan and Vardan Malkhasyan has made a statement today.
«The anti-national authorities have manifested their permissiveness one more time. In order to hinder the work of the «Armenian Volunteers Union» in the pre-election period, they arrested Commander Zhirayr Sefilyan and his famous oppositional figure Vardan Malkhasyan with false accusations.
Let us participate in the PROTEST ACTION which will start on December 22 at 02:00 p.m. in the park opposite the Mergelyan Institute, with the following route:
Kasyan-Baghramyan-statue to Tamanyan-Moskovyan-National Security Service-Nalbandyan-Republic Square.
The action is approved by the municipality».
Comment by Chello — December 20, 2006 @ 10:40 pm
Jirayr Sefilian actually is an armenian patriot who fights against politcian theafs that think only to fill their pockets by being the dogs of other foreign countries …
Comment by Simon — February 1, 2007 @ 6:23 pm