Demonstration in support of Zhirayr Sefilyan and Vardan Malkhasyan, Arabkir District, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2006

Following the arrest of Zhirayr Sefilyan and Vardan Malkhasyan by the National Security Service (NSS) for allegedly plotting a coup d’etat, a few hundred supporters staged a demonstration in their defense. For some reason they started their march, originally intended to end at the headquarters of the former KGB, from near the Mergelyan Institute. Not sure why, but it suited me just fine as I live pretty much close by.

Anyway, not many media outlets turned out although ALM and Yerkir Media TV had film crews there. A1 Plus has more.

Hundreds of people gathered near the President’s residence today and demanded to set free coordinator of the initiative “Protection of Liberated Lands” Zhirayr Sefilyan and member of the party “Fatherhood and Honor” Vardan Malkhasyan. They were arrested on December 10 and sentenced to two months’ imprisonment.

Representatives of the “Union of Armenian Volunteers”, “Fatherhood and Homeland”, “New Times party” and several NGOs, carrying posters saying “NO to unpunished violence” and “Give citizenship to Zhirayr Sefilyan”, walked from Mergelyan park along Baghramyan avenue towards the building of the National Security Service.

The National Security Service did not receive the participants of the protest action. “We in fact did not even apply to be received”, said Armen Yeghyan, member of the committee supporting Zhirayr Sefilyan and Vardan Malkhasyan. According to him, the number of the participants of the protest action would have been greater if it hadn’t been for the bad weather. Precisely because of it the march did not continue to the Republic Square, as previously announced.

According to Armen Yeghyan, they are waiting for the trial of Sefilyan in the Court of Cassation next week.

Meanwhile, ArmInfo reports that organized support for Sefilyan can even be found in the mainly Armenian populated region of Samtskhe-Javakheti in neighbouring Georgia. This in itself is quite interesting in so much that Sefilyan’s arrest is seen as somehow connected to the recent detention by the Armenian National Security Service of Vahagn Chakhalian.

Yerevan, December 22. ArmInfo. A Committee for Advocacy of Zhirayr Sefilyan and Vardan Malkhasyan is set up in Javahkh, Armenian populated region of Georgia, Javahkh-info reports.

The 1st sitting of the Committee was held on 21 December 2006. They prepared a statement for authorities of Armenia to revise the “disproportionately severe legal actions tending to political persecution against Zh. Sefilyan and V. Malkhasyan.”

But in case you think that to protest Sefilyan’s detention is for nationalists only, think again. After I started blogging about these events, a Turkish reader sent a private email saying that while he didn’t agree with Sefilyan’s politics, he was worried about the renewed use of the former KGB in silencing dissent in Armenia, and was specifically worried about his [Armenian] friends in Yerevan as the May parliamentary elections approach.

So far, this case seems to be about those elections, negotiations over Karabakh, or both. And it has to be said that not one of those attending today’s march seemed capable of threatening anyone, let alone pulling off a coup d’etat. Yes, I know, I know, the dadik is probably dangerous, and so the police had to come out in force today, but…

Demonstration in support of Zhirayr Sefilyan and Vardan Malkhasyan, Arabkir District, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2006