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International community would be mindful to judge Nikol Pashinyan by his actions at home, not his speeches abroad – Robert Kocharyan

panorama.aman hour ago
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International community would be mindful to judge Nikol Pashinyan by his actions at home, not his speeches abroad – Robert Kocharyan

Armenian ex-president Robert Kocharyan, who is currently in custody charged with “overthrowing constitutional order of Armenia” during the March 1 post-electoral events in 2008, has wrote an op-ed for euractiv.com
Panorama.am publishes the article in its entirety below:

“Arrested for the second time just two days before December’s parliamentary elections, I continue to be unlawfully held in prison awaiting the start of a trial. I am banned from travelling; stripped of my Presidential immunity guaranteed by the Constitution; deprived of my fundamental rights; prevented from exercising my civil and political rights, and denigrated in public statements by the Prime Minister of my country.

I note that concurrently, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is on a photo-op tour of European capitals pledging his commitment to strengthening the rule of law, ensuring an independent judiciary, protecting human rights and restoring democracy to Armenia.

I am being held in prison unlawfully because I am an opposition politician, critical of Nikol Pashinyan’s unrestrained populism. I am a challenger capable of holding him accountable on the real problems Armenians care about – state governance, national security, and the economy.

Who is Nikol Pashinyan anyway? He is the protest ringleader of the March 2008 post-Presidential election demonstrations, who fomented mass riots which turned violent in the streets of Yerevan. Eight private citizens and two police officers lost their lives, 187 police officrs and 32 protesters were injured.

Can I expect that an individual who was hellbent then on violently overthrowing the government will now respect and uphold the Rule of Law?

I am charged with allegedly “overthrowing the Constitutional order”, though the meaning of this charge is not clear to me, my lawyers or the wider public. We surmise that I am charged for deploying police and the military to quell the March 2008 riots and restore order and security to the capital Yerevan.

Yet there was no direct engagement between the army and the protesters. The army’s role in Yerevan was to protect government and other important buildings, not large scale law enforcement operations as such.

And remember that the uprising determined to bring down the State by violent means, was led by Nikol Pashinyan and his associates.

Can I hope that an individual, sentenced to seven years prison on charges of mass disturbance leading to a fatality, who absconded from justice to avoid arrest, will now respect due legal process towards others?

Can I have confidence that an individual who shamelessly intimidates and threatens judges against neutrality in public statements will now disengage from interfering from a fabricated trial of his political nemesis?

No, I cannot, and the international community of leaders, judges and defenders of human rights would be mindful to judge Nikol Pashinyan by his actions at home, not his speeches abroad. If he is serious about implementing reforms in exchange for EU support and partnership, Armenia’s...

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