In connection with the events of March 1, 2008, today’s authorities frequently speak about “oligarch gangs” that allegedly played an active role in actions against the protesters. I believe those rumors are true. However, there is one “detail”: the current speakers have been in power for six years, yet none of the oligarchs and “thugs” who participated in those events have been prosecuted.
Why? Because the oligarchs serve the current authorities just as they served the previous ones. Their “gangs” must be included too. Therefore, the current authorities were not focused on state-building or legitimacy but on achieving a short-term propaganda effect.
As for “thugs,” we can document at least one case. On April 16 of this year, a group of masked individuals attacked a detained young man from the opposition, who was under police supervision, and brutally beat him. Those masked individuals, of course, “were not found.” Presumably, they belong to the “gang” of some oligarch.
There are surprisingly repetitive plots and differing protocols of “rights defenders.”
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For decades, authorities have “had a habit” of arresting potential organizers before major rallies. Now, as part of that “operation,” community leaders from Artsakh settlements are being arrested. “Progressive activists” have not responded to this. Society is not particularly concerned either. The reason is probably that the “operation” is accompanied by the spread of absurd news about the people of Artsakh and hateful, racist rhetoric directed towards them, which successfully brainwashes many.
Aram Abrahamyan
