As expected, after the April 24 events, the members of the Founding Parliament were released. It can be said, due to “the change of situation”. Since, according to the official version, they calling themselves a movement of the “100th anniversary without a regime” were planning to organize mass disorders on April 24, but this date elapsed, therefore, it is presumed that the Founding Parliament would not incite riots any other day.
Law enforcers failed to bring any evidence in favor of their hypothesis on “preparation of disorders”. Knowing the character of the Armenian investigators, I can assume that they would answer, “we are not obligated to provide such evidence to the society, the Court considered these evidences substantiated, the remaining is an investigation confidentiality.” Well, in that case, the government should reconcile with the idea that the society would always have doubts on both the investigators and the judges.
Anyway, calls for violence and disorders failed to occur by the level of interviews and announcements of members of Founding Parliament. There occurred a usual opposition rhetoric on overthrowing the “regime” or, in Armenian language, the “administration” and on the “right to rebel” which sounds at least since 1992. The government, in its discretion, sometimes finds grounds for criminal prosecution in this rhetoric. I, personally, no matter how I consider these calls reiterated over 23 years senseless do not see any “criminality” in them.
Apparently, the government authorities’ logic is as follows: as the Founding Parliament was initiating something for April 24, when there were thousands of people in the streets and numerous foreign guests, then it’s worth, at least, to be insured and isolate these people for the given time-period. As to what extent the said logic is related to the spirit and the letter of the law, judge for yourself. Equally controversial was Shant Harutyunyan’s and his friends’ imprisonment for a long run. It seems to me that they should have been fined 50,000 drams for the hooliganism and be released. It was worthless to “overload” the situation. Revising the court’s wrong decisions by amnesties, of course, is not an ordinary way of doing it. But keeping people in jails by disproportionate punishment is worse.
Read also
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
