PRO-OPPOSITION YOUTH ACTIVIST SEVERELY BEATEN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 001365 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR DRL AND EUR/CARC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM AM SUBJECT: PRO-OPPOSITION YOUTH ACTIVIST SEVERELY BEATEN YEREVAN 00001365 001.2 OF 002 (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) On Thursday November 15 Narek Galstian, a student activist, was attacked by three men and severely beaten. The attack came two days after police reportedly detained him for posting leaflets advertising the upcoming Levon Ter-Petrosian rally on Friday, November 16. Galstian and opposition party leaders are pointing the finger at the government for allegedly orchestrating the attack. Government officials, however, have denied such claims. END SUMMARY. -------------- -------------- POLICE WARN AGAINST DISTRIBUTING ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROPOGANDA -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Narek Galstian, the leader of the Sargis Tkhruni student-youth union of the opposition Social-Democrat Hnchakyan Party (SDHK),was arrested by police November 13. He and another group member were reportedly posting leaflets critical of Serzh Sargsian's candidacy, and informing people about the upcoming rally of Levon Ter-Petrosian. Lyudmila Sargsian, the SDHK chairwoman, asserts that the two men were admonished by police against distributing 'anti-government propaganda,' and that they were mistreated while in police custody. She alleged that the chief of Yerevan police, Major General Nerses Nazarian, personally hit the two men. She says of the incident: "the fact that a police general does not shy away from beating 19- and 20- year-old young men, and even trying to stuff a leaflet into their mouths and force them to eat it... shows that this is a police state." Larisa Alaverdyan, MP from the opposition Heritage Party, was quoted saying "a sad tradition has been created in Armenia, according to which distribution of leaflets is not considered a normal phenomenon by Armenian law enforcement." ¶3. (SBU) A police spokesman confirmed to us privately that Galstian was "invited" to the police station for a discussion about what he was doing, but denies that he was ever involuntarily detained or arrested, or that he suffered any mistreatment. -------------- GALSTIAN TAKEN FROM TAXI AND BEATEN -------------- ¶4. (SBU) On his way to work on Thursday November 16, three men blocked Galstian's taxi, forcing it to stop. The three unidentified men then took Galstian from the car and severely beat him. Galstian was hospitalized as a result of the attack. He has reported that the men warned him that they would kill him next time if he talked to newspapers. In an interview from the hospital Galstian has accused the authorities of orchestrating the attack, calling it part of an ongoing government campaign of 'repression' against the opposition and those who support Levon Ter-Petrosian. The attack came just two days after his detention and one day before the Ter-Petrosian rally, causing many to conclude that the incidents were connected and that it was politically motivated. -------------- THE GOVERNMENT REACTS -------------- ¶5. (SBU) On November 16, President Robert Kocharian denied any involvement of the authorities, in response to a press conference question. Dismissing any political motive, the president said that Galstian was too young and little-known to pose a threat to his and Sargsian's rule. "As always, whatever happens to anyone in the run-up to elections is linked with politics," he told reporters. "I personally never heard about that lad. I didn't know there was such a political figure. I don't think he was of interest to anyone," Kocharian added. Several pro-government parties have commented on the attack. Artsvik Minasian, an MP from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF-Dashnaks) said that his party could not comment on the attack, since violence against a representative of a political party did not necessarily mean that the attack was politically motivated. Naira Zohrabian, an MP from the Prosperous Armenia party, told reporters that the authorities would not have orchestrated such an attack, as it would have a damaging effect on their image. -------------- OPPOSITION PARTIES CONDEMN THE ATTACK -------------- ¶6. (SBU) At hisNovember 16 public rally in Yerevan, Levon Ter-Petrosian during his speech (septel) made mention of Galstian YEREVAN 00001365 002.2 OF 002 and condemned the attack on him. Ter-Petrosian demanded that Nazarian, the Yerevan police chief, be fired and that failure of the authorities to do so would implicate both Kocharian and Serzh Sargsian in orchestrating the beating. The SDHK leader, Lyudmila Sargsian, also alleges that the government was behind the attack, and is quoted in the press as saying, "Nowadays police will not take any action without orders from above. I link [the beating] to the highest echelons of power." Members of the opposition have tied the beating to what they claim is a wider range of 'repression' unleashed by the government against supporters of the opposition, including the tax inspections on Sil Holding and GALA TV. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (SBU) This latest event seems to be another troubling example of the government's failure to protect the opposition's rights to free expression without fear of reprisal. We have no evidence to support the assertion that the police were specifically behind the beating, but we believe that the attack was most probably politically motivated and done by one or another pro-government faction. PENNINGTON