Yesterday, the “Armenian Committee of Solidarity with Maidan” organized a protest in defense of the Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko. Whether she has committed the violent crimes attributed to her, it is up to the law enforcement agencies to determine. But the fact that the Ukrainian soldiers are judged for the sins committed in her own country but it is done by Russia’s law-enforcement and judicial system, agree, is a bizarre phenomenon.
To exclude all sorts of parallels, I must note that Russia and Ukraine are not at war, moreover, Russia denies that its country troops are fighting in Lugansk and Donetsk region. In that case, how and why the military pilot of another country is brought to Russia and judged by Russian laws. Lugansk region where the alleged offense is not recognized as an independent republic; it has been repeatedly declared that there are no even such goals. If it were recognized, and if this state unit were at war with Ukraine and it Savchenko were judged in Luhansk, then it was possible to draw some remote parallels, while now, these conversations are irrelevant.
To be in sympathy to one of the sides of Russian-Ukrainian conflict on the occasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine is an issue of political orientation. I, for instance, do not like the word “Maidan” which I associate with the American diplomat Victoria Nuland dividing pies. To imagine that such a thing could happen in Armenia, I cannot and it is absolutely not my heart. But to compare Donetsk and Lugansk with the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic with its established state institutions, discipline and a certain level of democracy, I do not like this parallel especially.
The second argument that is used by the critics of this protest is as follows: “Aren’t there political prisoners in Armenia?” If unfair or disproportionately judged people are called a “political prisoner”, then there are thousands of “political prisoners” in our country. However, a person persecuted for his political views, in my opinion, is the one who has made a public speech criticizing the authorities or has written an article and he is judged for it. While, for instance, shooting by air gun in the direction of the policemen, in my understanding, is not a political activity, and this would be on trial in any of the most democratic countries. I know that those who have extreme opposition views do not agree with me. Very well: let’s assume I’m mistaken. Does the presence of political prisoners in Armenia suggest that our society must be framed in its shield and pay no attention to what is going on in the world?
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
