For anyone out there from Levon Ter Petrosian’s team, take this entry as a complaint about your goons acting as if they own the country. During Ter Petrosian’s rally on Friday, opposition members manhandled a number of journalists including myself, restricted our movement, and preventing us from carrying out our work in what is technically and legally a public area. All of this happened a significant distance away from anyone important and even before Ter Petrosian arrived.

Moreover, some also refused to recognize official documents identifying journalists as such while they carried on as if they owned the country — a concerning fact given that Ter Petrosian is running for president. Even Serzh Sarkisian and Robert Kocharian’s bodyguards as well as police are better than Ter Petrosian’s goons who now have a misplaced feeling of self-importance. Even Hayk Gevorkian from Ter Petrosian’s media mouthpiece, Haykakan Zhamanak, was prevented from moving freely in an open space that posed no security risk at all.

Later, when I left the rally after deciding there was no point hanging around if I couldn’t get the shots I needed, I was told to exit one way only to be confronted and manhandled by others. For a while it was almost as if they wouldn’t even let me leave. There was no reason for any of this. They just felt big and had decided to boss anyone and everyone around. Like I said, a concerning experience if ever their “King” was to become president. They would be just the same — if not worse — as the thugs who drive around in Hummers today.

Anyway, if anyone knows what the law says about restricting the work and movement of accredited journalists in a public space (and remember, these guys were NOT police) please post a comment or send me an email. If the law allows me to take action against Ter Petrosian’s people the next time they get too big for their boots then I will. As I said, security for Kocharian and Sarkisian is better than this and I can already see the opposition goons think they are above the law, journalists and even their potential supporters.

Change happens when people stand up for their rights and that also applies to Ter Petrosian who should be doing all he can to shake the image of someone who sent tanks out onto the streets in 1996 and who persecuted and imprisoned his political opponents. As it is, I don’t think much has changed at all. Simply, those who were in power and ruled the roost now want their slice of the pie again. It’s funny, though, to see how Ter Petrosian’s team treat him as if he were royalty when actually, he’s just a citizen nearing retirement age.