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

Via Groong, Noyan Tapan carries news of yesterday’s demonstration staged in support of Lebanese-Armenian former Karabakh commander Zhirayr Sefilyan and his local colleague, Vardan Malkhasyan. The two men were arrested in December by agents of the National Security Service (NSS) and accused of planning a coup d’etat.

Their supporters, however, believe that the charges are unfounded and allege that the arrests mark the start of crackdowns on opposition supporters in the run-up to the May parliamentary election.

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. “The main goal of the “Armenian Volunteers’ Unity” public initiative is to prevent the reproduction of the present immoral, illegal and anti-national regime.” Samvel Haroutiunian, a member of the initiative made such a statement during the February 2 demonstration of complaint organized in defence of Zhirayr Sefilian, the organization coordinator, commander of the Shoushi special battalion, and Vardan Malkhasian, a member of the “Hayrenik u Pativ” (Fatherland and Honour) party political council.

As Zh.Sefilian’s brother, Toros Sefilian mentioned in the interview with journalists, the reason for the “Armenian Volunteers’ Unity” coordinator’s arrest are the coming parliamentary elections, control of holding of which Zh.Sefilian intended to organize to stop their falsification as much as possible.

Again, what was noticeable about yesterday’s demonstration was how few media outlets covered the event which was attended by about 200 people. I certainly didn’t see any of the TV stations there, although Public TV usually sends unmarked cameras to opposition protests so unpopular are they. There were some cameras there, but its hard to say whether they belonged to the demonstrators themselves or not.

Not newsworthy enough? Right, I mean, the guy is only accused of plotting to overthrow the Government. It’s not as if he simply ran a red light. Regardless, there were few cameras there, and mainly newspaper hacks. Still, A1 Plus had a reporter there.

A number of citizens participated in a protest action in protection of Zhirayr Sefilyan and Vardan Malkhasyan. They walked from the Chamber music hall towards the Government building. They are accompanied policemen the number of which was hardly less their own. The participants of the action sang patriotic songs and cried out “Freedom to Zhirayr and Vardan”. Reaching the Government building they stood with their backs to it.

Brother of Zhirayr Toros Sefilyan was also present at the meeting. He said that he has seen his brother twice, and all is well with him. Toros Sefilyan wanted to meet Robert Kocharyan and Serge Sargsyan, but “they have kept me waiting for a week”.

Founder of “Union of volunteers” Samvel Haroutyunyan announced that the suit is not against Vardan Malkhasyan and Zhirayr Sefilyan: it is against the wishes of the Armenian martyrs and our national dignity. “We have had more than 6000 martyrs in the Artsakh war. They wanted to have a free, independent and powerful Armenia”.

According to him, Sefilyan’s arrest testifies to the fact that the authorities are going to be re-elected on May 12 Parliamentary elections. “We announce that we are not going to allow that. We will prevent that anti-national action”, Samvel Haroutyunyan claimed.

Anyway, I was told later that the kids in these photos were Sefilyan’s, and they certainly seem to be taking after their father if they are. Previous posts on Sefilyan’s arrest can be found here.

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