Armenian Helsinki Committee has been observing peaceful demonstrations since the 1990s, and it has been making systematic observations since 2008. And having this vast experience, Avetik Ishkhanyan, the president of the Armenian Helsinki Committee told during Aravot’s “Confrontation” project that “the right of peaceful assemblies is violated in Armenia. The right of peaceful assemblies has standards, for instance, how much police presence should be, compared to the number of the protesters? The police never had this exaggerated prescience in Armenia, even during small protests”.
To our comment that during the last protests no tear gas or water cannons or any other special measures were used, Avetik Ishkhanyan replied, “but the brut force was used”. And the other guest of the project Alexander Kochubaev, head of “Contra legem” law firm, added, “The amount is so huge. (“Horrific,” added Avetik Ishkhanyan – A.I.) that the turn of the special measures is not coming. Each protester gets 5-6 policemen”.
Let us remind you, that Alexander Kochbaev was taken into custody, but as the lawyer reported, they have refused to document him saying that “they did not take him into custody, as they thought that he would like to go to the police station together with the protesters, so they took him as well”. This is not the only extraordinary case: protesters were taken into custody because they were protesting wearing masks with the face of Nikol Pashinyan, the prime minister of Armenia.
According to Alexander Kochubaev, “In general, protests have some methods. They should respect protesters when they are saying that they are expressing their grievances by blocking streets. If you respect freedom of assembly you also should respect the right to assemble in that way. If the person protests by bringing chicken to the Republic square. If you respect the freedom of assembly you also shall respect the methodology. Many years before in Mashtots avenue protesters nailed themselves down with handcuffs. This is the way of the assembly, the way to show the protest. Just blocking the street does not mean that they violate the public order.”
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Another extraordinary case – according to the statement of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia, a group of citizens stuck the photos of the members of parliament in their backpacks and displayed inappropriate behavior. On the same day, at 1:50 pm citizens were taken into custody on suspicion to inflict severe insult”.
According to the president of the Armenian Helsinki Committee, this is ridiculous, the law does not prohibit to protest wearing someone’s mask or sticking pictures, or marching in front of the office of the incumbent party. Let us remind you, that the demonstration in front of the office of the Civil Contract party was also disrupted – policemen did not let protesters approach the building. “This is a violation of one of the most important rights of a peaceful assembly – protesters have the right to address their grievances to the addressees. This means, that if you have a complaint about that party, you should do it there,” Avetik Ishkhanyan says. “Why are they upset about the demonstrations with the backpacks? Let’s not forget that they came into power by putting coffins in front of the entrances of the living people”, Alexander Kochubaev asked, “If it is permissible for the state to put coffins in front of the entrance of the living people, in front of their families, it is permissible for me to burn a picture or stick the picture to a chicken or a pig”. “If the situation continues like this satire, humor will disappear in Armenia. All this will be considered an insult,” Avetik Ishkhanyan predicted.
They also referred to the fact that the protesters show an intolerant attitude towards the ones who have a different position. This already happened to Armen Martirosyan, the director of “Antares” publishing house, and Sos Janibekyan, actor. “The different word is to justify the handover of Artsakh”, Alexander Kochubaev said. And Avetik Ishkhanyan mentioned, “If the most civilized country, for instance, Norway war with one of its neighbors, let’s say Sweden, and the latter invades Oslo, the capital of Norway, can someone say that Oslo is a colorless city? And can an intellectual defend that? What will the civilized Norwegian nation do? Do they have the right to have such an opinion? No! No one in Armenia has a right to have an opinion that Shurnukh is Azerbaijani, that Shushi is Azerbaijani, and that Artsakh is Azerbaijani. Nobody has such a right.”
Anna ISRAELYAN
