A1 Plus reports that a court has ruled that Lebanon-born ex-Karabakh Commander, Zhirayr Sefilyan, and his local counterpart, Vardan Malkhasyan, can be held for another two months in pre-trial detention.

The Court of the First Instance of Kentron and Norq-Marash communities has decided to prolong the period of imprisonment of Vardan Malkhasyan and Zhirayr Sefilyan for two more months.

The prisoners have announced that they will appeal the court decision.

Leading members of “Armenian Volunteers’ Movement” Zhirayr Sefilyan and Vardan Malkhasyan were arrested on December 10 of the previous year for making calls to change the Constitution by force.

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

I suppose I could have included this post in with the previous roundup of the Armenian and Turkish Blogosphere on the murder of Hrant Dink and a new Genocide Resolution before the U.S. Congress, but it was interesting enough to deserve a whole post on its own. Over at One Armenian World, N posts a fascinating entry that includes her impressions of Tbilisi. As she’s Armenian-American, it’s kind of refreshing to read such such an opinion.

Most locals would agree with her observations albeit sometimes reluctantly, but many Diasporans have a inherent dislike of Georgians just because. Therefore, this post is surprisingly open and very honest, touching upon many issues that few of the vocal minority that actually constitutes the Diaspora have the guts or inclination to admit or acknowledge. Of course, I’m probably biased because I like Tbilisi too, but anyway.

Don’t get me wrong, Georgia faces some very serious problems at this stage of its transition, just as Armenia does, but Tbilisi has some very postive sides that many of us enjoy when compared to Yerevan.

It was about an hour from the border to Tibilisi, where we found the metro, which looked remarkably like the Yerevan metro, only with more people, and the people were all speaking a different language, and the signs were in a different language, and the people and the language kind of looked Armenian but definitely weren’t. Even the fruit on the sidewalk looked similar, little mandarin oranges and wrinkled, roughed-up yellow apples. Borjomi bottled water came from a spring in a village, a tourist site in Georgia, the same way that Jermuk bottled came from a spring in a village, a tourist site in Armenia.

But over the next twenty four hours or so, I would decide that Tbilisi was much bigger, diverse and cosmopolitan than Yerevan. The people didn’t wear all the same clothes, the buildings weren’t made of all the same stone. There was no smog, fog, and you could see beautiful views across the river, over bridges, sheer rock walls and more ancient churches (and mosques and temples) than you could count. Old homes had been maintained, latticework balconies sprawling at streetlamp level, homemade layer cakes.

[…] Tbilisi has the feel of a big city, the influence and influx of various people and cultures. We wandered the streets the five days we were there, and encountered Chinese stores everywhere, which Arman was obsessed with. There were items in the grocery store from all over Europe, much cheaper and much more selection than in Yerevan, there was a street with an international array of restaurants — Irish pubs, Sushi joints, Indian, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, Turkish — and the satellite tv at the bed and breakfast showed channels from all over Europe and Russia.

I also noticed that unlike Yerevan, Tbilisi signs and posters are mostly only in the native language, hardly any in English and absolutely nothing printed in Russian. […]

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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.

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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.

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The Associated Press reports that there has been another arrest in what the National Security Service (NSS) allege was a plot to overthrow the Government. The news follows the earlier arrest of Lebanese-Armenian Zhirayr Sefilyan and local associate Vardan Malkhasyan.

Vaan Aronian was arrested at his home in the village of Lusatar in western Armenia, where security officers found weapons and ammunition including guns, grenade launchers and a shoulder-fired missile launcher, the National Security Service said in a statement.

It said the detention was linked to a probe that led to the arrest earlier this month of Zhirair Sefilian, a Lebanese citizen who heads the Association of Armenian Volunteers, and another activist of the group, Vadan Malkhasian.

The two are accused of plotting a coup, making public demands for the government’s ouster, and possessing illegal weapons — charges they have denied. A court in mid-December ordered them to be held in jail for two months as the investigation continues.

Members of the Association of Armenian Volunteers have said the arrests were part of an attempt by the authorities to stifle dissent in the run-up to parliamentary elections next year.

Looks like the parliamentary elections are going to be nothing short of interesting this time round. How interesting we’re only beginning to see, I suspect. Anyway, RFE/RL also carries the story.

Well, some good news for a change. While pro-democracy groups and the rest of us worry about the conduct of next May’s Parliamentary Elections, it seems as though we’re fretting over nothing. Today, for example, RFE/RL reports that the head of the Central Election Commission, Garegin Azarian, has ruled out the very idea of electoral fraud.

Unlike most other former Soviet Republics based on a system of corruption and nepotism, the Caucasian Armenian leopard is going to change it’s spots, Hoorah! Okay, so I’m being sarcastic. I don’t quite believe the news until I actually see it next year.

Garegin Azarian pointed to the enactment of fresh amendments to the Electoral Code and the CEC’s plans to put in place a computerized network which he said will allow for a more transparent and quicker counting and tabulation of votes.

The Armenian authorities say the amendments passed by the National Assembly this week will complicate ballot box stuffing and other forms of fraud that were commonplace during the previous parliamentary and presidential elections. In particular, voters will now have to put marked ballots into special envelops before casting them. Another amendment gives more rights to the proxies of election candidates as well as observers and journalists covering polling.

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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.

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Opposition Protest the outcome of the 2003 Presidential Election, Matenadaran, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2003

I was pondering calling this post “Out of the Frying Pan,” for a moment, but decided against it even though next year’s parliamentary elections are shaping up to be the most tense in the eight years I’ve been here. There were only one or two cases of shooting during the 1999 elections, no calls for civil unrest during the 2003 presidential and parliamentary elections although the street protests were huge, and demands that Kocharian leave office in 2004 were largely peaceful in nature even if riot police went on the rampage instead.

This time, however, we have threats of armed resistance, but it’s not as simple as protesting any attempt at falsifying the vote. Once again, it’s to do with Karabakh and follows last week’s arrest of Lebanese-Armenian Karabakh War Veteran and Commander of the Shushi Battalian, Zhirayr Sefilyan. RFE/RL has more.

The Armenian authorities will face armed resistance if they decide to arrest more hard-line nationalists opposed to major concessions to Azerbaijan, an opposition leader warned on Tuesday.

Garnik Markarian, who leads a small opposition party called Fatherland and Honor, said he has ordered his regional structures to form special groups of war veterans and other activists for countering the latest government “repressions.”

A senior member of Fatherland Honor, Vartan Malkhasian, as well as a prominent Lebanese-Armenian participant of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, Zhirayr Sefilian, were arrested and charged with plotting a violent overthrow of Armenia’s current leadership last week.

The case against the two men has been condemned as politically motivated by nearly two dozen opposition parties making up a loose anti-government coalition. Leaders of the Anti-Criminal Movement on Tuesday again demanded their release.

Markarian, whose organization is also part of the grouping, warned the authorities against making more arrests. “Let the president, the defense minister and the criminal regime know that their separate arrests … will have no influence on our activities,” he told a news conference. “The KGB packs which will try to break into homes at night and without any legal grounds will get a worthy riposte.”

“These 50, 100 or thousand people have guns. So don’t play with fire,” added the former police officer.

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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.

Arminfo reports that Zhirayr Sefilyan has been remanded by a Yerevan court into at least two months detention. According to the report, and despite the “irrefutable evidence” announced when they arrested Sefilyan at the weekend, the National Security Service apparently requires these two months to investigate their own charges against him.

ZHIRAYR SEFILYAN WILL BE KEPT IN CUSTODY FOR AT LEAST 2 MONTHS

Yerevan, December 13. ArmInfo. Dec 12 evening the court of Yerevan’s Center-Nork Marash communities granted the petition of the National Security Service of Armenia for keeping the head of the Armenian Volunteer Union initiative in custody for 2 months more.

Well, we always knew that the 2007 parliamentary elections were going to be dirty and potentially volatile, but I don’t think any of us expected such a major event as that which happened this week to occur before the New Year. As posted here, here, and here, Lebanese-Armenian Zhirayr Sefilyan was arrested by masked and armed agents of the National Security Service (NSS) on Sunday accused of masterminding an alleged plot to overthrow the Government.

According to RFE/RL, contrary to earlier reports that Sefilyan migh be deported from Armenia, the former war hero will now face prosecution for planning a coup.

The National Security Service (NSS) says Sefilian, a veteran of the 1991-1994 war in Karabakh, set up a clandestine organization to mount an armed uprising against the government during parliamentary elections due next spring. Dozens of its alleged members were also briefly detained over the weekend.

A court in Yerevan was considering behind the closed doors late Tuesday the NSS’s request to keep Sefilian under arrest pending investigation. The suspect was expected to be remanded in pre-trial custody.

The NSS’s decision to formally charge Sefilian with publicly calling for a “violent change of constitutional order” suggested that he will not be deported from Armenia despite claims to the contrary made by his friends and associates.

[…]

The case against the decorated war veteran was condemned by more than a dozen Armenian opposition parties. In a joint statement issued late Monday, they accused the authorities of stifling dissent ahead of the upcoming elections and demanded his immediate release from jail.

A similar statement was also released by 18 members of Armenia’s parliament, most of them representing opposition factions. Three of them also offered to pay bail on Sefilian’s behalf.

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