Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08YEREVAN248
2008-03-20 13:32:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Yerevan
Cable title:
DETAILS ON LTP'S DE FACTO HOUSE ARREST
how-toVZCZCXRO0477 RR RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR DE RUEHYE #0248 0801332 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 201332Z MAR 08 FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7272 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION WASHINGTON DC RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ4/ECJ5-A/ECJ1/ECJ37//
C O N F I D E N T I A L YEREVAN 000248
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/CARC
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC KDEM AM
SUBJECT: DETAILS ON LTP'S DE FACTO HOUSE ARREST
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Joseph Pennington, reasons 1.4 (b,d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L YEREVAN 000248
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/CARC
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC KDEM AM
SUBJECT: DETAILS ON LTP'S DE FACTO HOUSE ARREST
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Joseph Pennington, reasons 1.4 (b,d).
1. (C) Poloff has been able -- through weekly weekend hikes
in the adjacent park -- to keep an eye on the de facto house
arrest of former President Levon Ter-Petrossian (LTP). To
our knowledge, LTP has only once been allowed out since March
1, and this was to address the Constitutional Court March 5.
Police surrounding the building have dwindled, but not
disappeared. On March 2, the security presence numbered some
30 security personnel, whom poloff witnessed diligently
searching all vehicles entering and exiting the premises. By
March 9, the number was cut in half, and uniformed police had
replaced the National Security Service as the agency in
charge. There was just one police car blocking the front
access road, and a police van blocking the road at the back
-- near a small police encampment that had sprung up in the
back woods. By March 16, the police vehicle at the back gate
had been eliminated, replaced by large stone blocks
barricading the back gate, arranged to stop the gate from
opening as well as block any pedestrian attempt to slip
through the large gap under the gate. The police roadblock
remains at the front gate, as does the small encampment
keeping watch at the back.
2. (C) Access to the park requires driving practically right
up to the police roadblock in front of LTP's gate. These
police routinely respond initially with wariness at being
approached on this lightly-trafficked road, but the sight of
poloff's two small children piling out of the car for an
afternoon in the woods immediately eases their minds, with
the officers offering smiles and sweets to the boys.
3. (C) Our own two visits to LTP inside his house since
March 1 (with U.S. flag flying from the fender) have each
resulted in several minutes' wait in front of the police
roadblock, as police radio superiors for permission to let us
pass. This lends credibility to the LTP assertion that
authorities not only do not let him leave, but also restrict
who is allowed inside. Initially, only LTP, his family
members, and his executive assistant (who has no real
political role, but functions as a major domo),were
reportedly let in, though other political allies have been
admitted more recently. LTP's political ally, former
National Security Minister David Shahnazarian, has been
consistently allowed inside as a family member; his daughter
is married to LTP's son, and that couple lives in LTP's
house, with their young children.
PENNINGTON
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/CARC
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC KDEM AM
SUBJECT: DETAILS ON LTP'S DE FACTO HOUSE ARREST
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Joseph Pennington, reasons 1.4 (b,d).
1. (C) Poloff has been able -- through weekly weekend hikes
in the adjacent park -- to keep an eye on the de facto house
arrest of former President Levon Ter-Petrossian (LTP). To
our knowledge, LTP has only once been allowed out since March
1, and this was to address the Constitutional Court March 5.
Police surrounding the building have dwindled, but not
disappeared. On March 2, the security presence numbered some
30 security personnel, whom poloff witnessed diligently
searching all vehicles entering and exiting the premises. By
March 9, the number was cut in half, and uniformed police had
replaced the National Security Service as the agency in
charge. There was just one police car blocking the front
access road, and a police van blocking the road at the back
-- near a small police encampment that had sprung up in the
back woods. By March 16, the police vehicle at the back gate
had been eliminated, replaced by large stone blocks
barricading the back gate, arranged to stop the gate from
opening as well as block any pedestrian attempt to slip
through the large gap under the gate. The police roadblock
remains at the front gate, as does the small encampment
keeping watch at the back.
2. (C) Access to the park requires driving practically right
up to the police roadblock in front of LTP's gate. These
police routinely respond initially with wariness at being
approached on this lightly-trafficked road, but the sight of
poloff's two small children piling out of the car for an
afternoon in the woods immediately eases their minds, with
the officers offering smiles and sweets to the boys.
3. (C) Our own two visits to LTP inside his house since
March 1 (with U.S. flag flying from the fender) have each
resulted in several minutes' wait in front of the police
roadblock, as police radio superiors for permission to let us
pass. This lends credibility to the LTP assertion that
authorities not only do not let him leave, but also restrict
who is allowed inside. Initially, only LTP, his family
members, and his executive assistant (who has no real
political role, but functions as a major domo),were
reportedly let in, though other political allies have been
admitted more recently. LTP's political ally, former
National Security Minister David Shahnazarian, has been
consistently allowed inside as a family member; his daughter
is married to LTP's son, and that couple lives in LTP's
house, with their young children.
PENNINGTON