This was the call made by the political secretary of the “Liberated Lands Defense” organization Armen Aghayan to the Armenian National Security Service (NSS) workers during a press conference.
Mr. Aghayan made this call during the demonstration organized by the board coordinating the defense movement for Zhirair Sefilyan and Vartan Malkhasyan in front of the National Security Service building. Referring to the announcements made by Zh. Sefilyan and V. Malkhasyan during a closed meeting organized by the “Armenian Volunteers’ Union” on December 2, which will soon be printed in the presses and served as the basis for the arrests of Sefilyan and Malkhasyan two weeks ago, Aghayan mentioned that there was nothing to say about the speech made by Sefilyan, however he did call on some people to “read carefully the works of Armenian and non-Armenian classical writers whose sayings Malkhasyan had referred to in his speech.”
“You can read all the lines in his speech that you mistakenly consider a basis for a crime in the works of Mikael Nalbandyan, Garegin Nzhdeh and Dostoyevsky,” said Aghayan, calling on the National Security Service workers. He also said that the “protest for the two week imprisonment” of Zh. Sefilyan and V. Malkhasyan may be heard at the appeal court next week.
“I encourage everyone to be present at the court building. We will most probably organize a demonstration there as well,” he said.
The demonstration on Friday began near the Mergelyan square. The demonstrators, including friends of Sefilyan and Malkhasyan who had fought together, representatives of the Intellectuals’ Forum, the “New Times” party headed by Aram Karapetyan and the “Armenian Volunteers’ Union” and others (approximately 200 people) started the march from Kasyan street, marched on Baghramyan and Moskovian streets and ended at the National Security Service building. With signs reading “No to unpunished violence”, “Freedom to Zhirair Sefilyan and Vartan Malkhasyan”, “Recognize Zhirair Sefilyan’s citizenship”, “Unity will save Armenia”, the demonstrators carrying the flags of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh made their way from the Mergelyan square to the Armenian presidential dome singing “Zartir Lao” and other similar patriotic songs. The protesters stopped in front of the president’s residence; they shouted “Freedom”, some of them made speeches and during one of the speeches, representative of the “Armenian Volunteers’ Union” Samvel Harutyunyan said that with them was the first commander of the self-defense forces of Artsakh Arkadi Karapetyan. Leader of the “Armenian Aryan Association” Armen Avetisyan was also present. Leader of the “New Times” party Aram Karapetyan joined the demonstrators at the president’s residence. Karapetyan led them to the National Assembly building, where the protesters stood and shouted “Freedom” for a couple of minutes. During his short speech in front of the National Assembly building, S. Harutyunyan announced that the “Alliance” party, headed by Samvel Babayan, had joined the struggle with the demonstrators from the very beginning. The protesters kept on emphasizing the fact that “they had recognized Zhirair Sefilyan’s citizenship since 1990.” A message was read at the National Security Service building after the demonstration was over. The message, which anyone can sign, states that “we share” all the opinions expressed during the meeting and “agree with” the calls made out. “We strictly condemn the political persecution of the commander Zh. Sefilyan and his comrade Vartan Malkhasyan and demand their immediate release,” as stated in the message.
Where was the opposition?
The “New Times” and “Homeland and Honor” parties organized a meeting at the “Armenia-Marriot” hotel a day after the arrests of Sefilyan and Malkhasyan with the participation of all Armenian oppositionists. At the end of the meeting, the oppositionists gathered approved the announcement, stating that they condemn the manner of working of the Armenian authorities and demand freedom for the prisoners. However, only a few oppositionists were participating in the demonstration on Friday. Where were the oppositionists who were demanding freedom for Sefliyan and Malkhasyan? “168 Hours” asked Aram Karapetyan why the rest of the oppositionists hadn’t shown up.
“Demonstrations are one thing; meetings are another. I don’t know why they haven’t shown up, since the “New Times” party and the “Anti-Criminal” movement hasn’t organized the protest,” said Karapetyan, adding that if anyone in Armenia wants to work with the people, each person must use all the sources “including meetings on the streets”.
“Is there a better way besides civil disobedience, informing the public and getting people out to the streets?” asks the “New Times” leader. In that case, how come the party doesn’t join the “Civil Disobedience Movement?” In response to this, Karapetyan said:
“We (the anti-criminal movement-R.T.) are a bigger movement.”
However, at the same time, he says that it’s quite possible for the “New Times” party to work with the “Civil Disobedience Movement”, “Alternative” and other parties that are “in favor of change of power and having normal, democratic elections.”
“They are all our allies,” he said in closing.