Artur Yeghiazaryan, who is number 5 on the ARF list for the Yerevan City Council election, warned on his Facebook page that the authorities might watch those who entered and left their ARF Garegin Nzhdeh committee office with a video camera on the wall. According to Artur Yeghiazaryan’s status update, “Although those video cameras belong to the Green Supermarket, but we all know who could need that, particularly given the fact that these devices have emerged lately….” Mr. Yeghiazaryan said during a conversation with www.aravot.am today that he had photographed and filmed those devises, in order that he had proof, if they were suddenly removed afterwards. This is about the video cameras of the Green Supermarket and the Econom Market, which, according to Mr. Yeghiazaryan, are turned toward their office. “Those two video cameras are on the premises of private businesses, although I noticed that the video camera of the Econom Market, for example, faces our entrance, but it also faces their premises. When I claim that it undoubtedly serves a different purpose, I will not have proof. They will say: ‘I have installed it for myself, yes, it is installed improperly, and your entrance can be seen.’ That is why I want to talk with the directors today and ask them to change the positions of the cameras, if it is possible, so that our entrance cannot be seen. If it is only for them, then let them install it in such a position that those who enter and leave our office cannot be seen.” Artur Yeghiazaryan assured that there were no secret meetings at and visits to their office, and he had nothing to fear. “However, even if your neighbor next door whom you know watches you through the peephole, you feel uncomfortable. At the end of the day, it is an electoral struggle, and this can also have a psychological impact. Suppose someone wants to come to our office, but when he notices that there are video cameras that are watching, he may be afraid for his job. There have been influential people at our office, and some people immediately informed that this person has been at our office. Now, they may place a man somewhere to watch who comes and goes, but we see that these video cameras may serve such purposes. Apart from that, we are not particularly concerned. It is just an unpleasant thing. We don’t do some special stuff here. Let them watch, but it is not nice anyway.” We inquired whether those video cameras hadn’t been there before and had only appeared lately, Artur Yeghiazaryan said that they hadn’t paid attention. “The camera of the Green Market is big and moving, they can turn it, and we will not go outside every time to see in which direction they have turned it.” Meeting with the directors of the shops today, Mr. Yeghiazaryan will ask them to show him what their cameras could see. “Now I have tested something; I have zoomed from our entrance toward the camera installed behind the Econom Market, using a small camera. The camera could clearly be seen between the trees, and if I can see that camera, it means
that this camera can also clearly see me.” Artur Yeghiazaryan promised that he would tell us after the meeting with the directors what they had said in justification.
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
