Demonstration in support of Zhirayr Sefilyan and Vardan Malkhasyan, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2007

Following on from a previous demonstration staged in support of former Karabakh commander, Lebanese-born Zhirayr Sefilyan, another protest rally was staged today outside the Chamber Music Hall in central Yerevan. After the speeches, those in attendance marched on the Headquarters of the National Security Service (NSS).

As I wrote in an article for EurasiaNet, Sefilyan was arrested in December by the former KGB and charged with planning to overthrow the Government.

The press service of the NSS, the successor to Armenia’s Soviet-era State Security Committee (KGB), has alleged that Sefilian “planned to interfere in the upcoming political processes [2007 parliamentary elections] with the use of force.” Sefilian has been accused of “conspiring to overthrow the constitutional order” under Article 301 of the Criminal Code. On December 12, a Yerevan court, in a closed session, ruled that Sefilian could be jailed for two months while the NSS further investigates the case.

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.

Armen Avetisyan, Demonstration in support of Zhirayr Sefilyan and Vardan Malkhasyan, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2007

Anyway, so much to say about this case, but my personal observations are perhaps most relevant. Firstly, I don’t agree with Sefilyan’s position on the Karabakh negotiations which are still underway and apparently gaining momentum, and I certainly don’t agree with the opinion of some of his supporters who were in attendance today.

One of those, for example, was Armen Avetisyan, Head of the Union of Armenian Aryans, who was arrested some time back for his anti-Semitism, but later released with a suspended jail sentence. Avetisyan is anything but liberal in his way of thinking.

An Armenian ultranationalist group on Wednesday strongly condemned the arrest and prosecution of its leader Armen Avetisian over his virulently anti-Semitic statements, describing him as a political prisoner.

Avetisian was remanded in custody by a Yerevan court on Monday after being charged under an article of the Armenian Criminal Code that carries up to six years’ imprisonment for “inciting ethnic, racial or religious hatred and animosity.”

[…]

A statement released by the Prosecutor’s Office in Yerevan on Tuesday confirmed that Avetisian is prosecuted for his long-running verbal attacks on Jews living in Armenia and elsewhere in the world. In a newspaper interview published earlier this month, the nationalist politician vowed to “cleanse” the country of Jews.

[…]

Martirosian claimed that his boss is not intolerant of the Jewish people. “For example, he has also threatened Georgians with violence and expulsion,” he argued.

Anyway, that’s not the point. What is of concern is that a lot of unanswered questions linger about the charges brought against Sefilyan, and especially as no evidence has yet to be presented to the public. Instead, there appears to be legitimate grounds for concern that the real reason for Sefilyan’s arrest, along with that of colleague Vardan Malkhasyan, was political and linked to the coming 2007 parliamentary elections.

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].

Basically, the issue of freedom of speech and the rule of law should extend to everybody whether we like their ideas and their activities or not. Of course, this also depends on whether they’ve broken the law, but so far been nothing presented to indicate that Sefilyan has. I’m sorry, but threatening to “crack heads” in the event of a compromise peace deal with Azerbaijan is not evidence enough.

Instead, it seems more like an excuse to remove “undesirables” from the political scene. Because of this, it’s important that the prosecution presents its case pretty damn quickly or there might be many other “pre-trial detentions” planned as the elections get closer.

In March 2006, the Iravunk newspaper reported that Sefilian had been warned by the NSS to refrain from criticism of the government’s position, and of Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian, at the risk of possible expulsion from the country. Another newspaper, Azg, similarly quoted opposition politician Albert Bazeyan as saying that “threats […] to deport Zhirayr Sefilian, former commander of [the] Shushi battalion, is conditioned by […] recent tendencies in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.”

Undaunted by such threats, Sefilian upped the ante in July by calling a press conference in which he declared that a “group of former civil guardsmen” had “already agreed upon certain steps which will allow us take real and drastic measures to avert vote rigging at the coming parliamentary and presidential elections.” He also spoke of realizing a “power shift to avert the launching of a new military conflict with Azerbaijan.”

Following Sefilian’s arrest, the NSS issued a written statement stating that it had irrefutable proof that the ex-commander was planning an armed uprising to “prod the country’s opposition into staging violent anti-government protests.” No evidence to support this claim has yet been made available, however.

Democracy, freedom of speech, and the rule of law are key to this case, and it’s probably appropriate to refer to Pastor Martin Niemöller’s poem written at the time of the Jewish Holocaust. It is particularly relevant to the situation in Armenia even oday, and especially the apathy that prevails among most of the population. Indeed, the poem is relevant to everyone wherever they are.

They came first for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Still, it was an interesting day. For a moment, the rally almost turned nasty when the police refused to allow permission for the demonstrators to stand outside the NSS building. Participants of the rally were even refused permission to walk past the building on the same side of the road. However, as the main procession crossed to the other side, a lone woman and a child who I think might have been Sefilyan’s wife and one of his kids, burst on through and ignored the orders of the police.

Demonstration in support of Zhirayr Sefilyan and Vardan Malkhasyan, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2007

The rest of the participants followed, and stood outside chanting. It’s something Armenians are reluctant to do, but today they did it. They actually protested and fought for what they believed in, whether we agree with their actions or not. It’s what the authorities here are most afraid of — people standing their ground. What was also interesting in the aftermath of the Hrant Dink murder in neighbouring Turkey was that a number of ethnic Armenians from the Diaspora were present.

Demonstration in support of Zhirayr Sefilyan and Vardan Malkhasyan, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2007

Of course, they should have been, as Sefilyan is also from abroad, but it was interesting to see them hold up signs with the number “301″ printed on alongside local civil society activists. Okay, so it’s not the same law as in Turkey but it’s interesting to note that Sefilyan was also charged under the same article number as Dink was. That point was not lost on many. “It’s used for the same purpose,” said one Armenian-American. “It’s for silencing critical voices. It’s Armenia’s own 301.”

Anyway, more photographs to come later, but until then, some are below. Others taken at a similar rally for Sefilyan soon after his arrest are here.

Demonstration in support of Zhirayr Sefilyan and Vardan Malkhasyan, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2007