RUNDOWN ON POST-ELECTION TRIALS OF OPPOSITIONISTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 YEREVAN 000473

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT OF STATE FOR DRL, EUR/CARC, DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE FOR USDOJ/OPDAT (CHRISTOPHER LEHMANN)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/08/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KJUS KDEM AM
SUBJECT: RUNDOWN ON POST-ELECTION TRIALS OF OPPOSITIONISTS


YEREVAN 00000473 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Joseph Pennington, reasons 1.4 (b/d).

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) Armenian authorities continue their post-election
prosecution of oppositionists in the court of law.
Approximately 150 people aligned with the opposition movement
led by ex-President Levon Ter-Petrossian (LTP) have been
charged with crimes, with convictions resulting in all of the
cases adjudicated so far. The authorities have targeted
opposition activists, campaign managers, financial backers,
and oppositionist allies. Although defense attorneys are
making valiant efforts to uphold defendants' rights, judges
and prosecutors are working hand-in-hand to secure
convictions in each of the cases decided to date. That said,
the trials might be sparking civic consciousness in a way
that could not otherwise be achieved. END SUMMARY.

--------------
A BREAKDOWN OF THE DETAINED
--------------


2. (SBU) According to the official website of the Office of
the Prosecutor General of Armenia as of May 30, 150
individuals have been charged with offenses under the
Criminal Code stemming from the election, the civil
disturbance of March 1 and its aftermath. Of those 150
persons, 49 are being held in preliminary detention (waiting
for their cases to be sent to court),64 others are in
detention or under other preventive measures (waiting for
their court cases to be adjudicated),and 33 are free on
bond, having agreed not to travel abroad (or in some cases
not to leave their city of residence). In addition, there are
four individuals who are wanted by the police.


3. (C) The detainees and those wanted can be categorized into
four main groupings: activists (60% of the detainees);
middle-level campaign managers (15%); the top-tier figures of
LTP's campaign (9%),including influential former officials
(Gagik Jahangirian, the fired ex-Deputy Prosecutor General),
main campaign investors (MP Khachatur Sukiasian, now a
fugitive after having his parliamentary immunity stripped)
and political strategists (Alexander Arzumanian, an
ex-Foreign Minister); and members of the Yerkrapah Union
(16%). Although the latter has seen its political influence
ebb with time, the Yerkrapah Union is one of Armenia's two
veterans' organizations comprising Karabakh war vets, and is
chaired by ex-General Manvel Grigorian, former Deputy
Minister of Defense, whom President Kocharian fired April 2
for his alleged support of LTP.

--------------
CHARGED ARTICLES
--------------


4. (C) After the fatal March 1 clashes between LTP supporters
and security forces, the authorities mounted a large-scale
prosecution against dozens of LTP supporters. In the
multiple indictments, the authorities allege that LTP and his
supporters failed to accept their defeat in the election, did
everything to make sure the international community
questioned the legitimacy of the results, disseminated
mistrust towards the results in the society, and rallied with
the intent to destabilize the political situation in the
country, thus creating conditions for usurpation of power.
Defense attorneys have argued that these "crimes" are within
the framework of the constitutional rights of each citizen,
but the courts have been dismissive of such complaints.


5. (SBU) Defendants have primarily been charged with the
following offenses: Organization and Participation in Mass
Disorders, Usurpation of State Power, Illegal Possession of
Weapons and Ammunition, and Violence against State Officials.
In addition, three defendants have been charged with crimes
occurring on election day for Hindrance of Election Committee
Activities.


6. (C) It is noteworthy that although several individuals
have been charged with weapons or ammunition possession, not
a single individual has been charged, as yet, with such
possession at the March 1 rally that resulted in ten
officially confirmed deaths. Many of those charged with
weapons/ammunition possession are Karabakh war veterans who
allied themselves with LTP before the election.


YEREVAN 00000473 002.2 OF 003


--------------
SEETHING TRIALS
--------------


7. (C) Emboffs have attended many of these trials; it has
become virtually the full-time work of our US DOJ Regional
Legal Adviser and his FSN staff attorney. Almost all of the
political trials have been well attended by defense
supporters. At practically all of those held so far, angry
demonstrations have occurred in the court room, as dozens of
supporters shout out to the court, threaten the prosecutor,
and otherwise engage in sometimes not-so-civil civil
disobedience. At some trials, the supporters of the
defendants have stood and applauded when defendants enter the
courtroom, and remained seated when the judge enters, in
pointed violation of court decorum. Often the protesters
hold up signs with slogans or pictures of political
prisoners. Judges and court personnel appear to have no
experience with controlling their courtrooms, and they often
give up their attempt to continue a trial if the crowd is
unruly. The media is freely allowed to witness the
proceedings, with cameras also allowed in the courtroom.
(Comment: Despite the media presence, scenes of raucous
support for defendants in the courtroom would be very
unlikely to appear on TV given the Government,s firm control
over Armenia,s electronic media. End Comment.)

--------------
EXECUTIVE BRANCH PRESSURE ON DECISIONS
--------------


8. (C) Notwithstanding the in-your-face public pressure,
judges regularly rule for the prosecution because they know
they would face a reprimand from the executive should they
rule for the defense. The judges fear they would be removed
from office, demoted, or otherwise punished should they rule
for the defense; their fears are well placed, as it has often
happened in the past when judges have returned acquittal
verdicts on routine criminal cases. According to defendants'
supporters, many hearings are intentionally conducted in
small courtrooms that cannot accommodate everyone who has
come to support the defendants.

--------------
JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS WORKING HAND-IN-HAND
--------------


9. (C) In keeping with a long-standing Armenian institutional
tradition, the judges who have been adjudicating the trials
of oppositionists have been consistently obedient to the
wishes of the prosecution. Defense attorneys have made
numerous motions that have been denied repeatedly by all of
the judges.


10. (C) For example, in one case the former Deputy Prosecutor
General (DPG) and his brother were arrested for weapons
possession and resisting arrest. The arrest occurred a day
after the DPG had publicly expressed his support for LTP at
an opposition rally. The two defendants were charged
separately, although they had been arrested at the same time.
At the brother's trial, the defense attorney moved to add
the DPG to the witness list, as he was present at the time of
arrest. The prosecutor opposed this motion, however, as it
was "not necessary to hear from that witness in order to
prove the facts of the case." The court agreed with the
prosecutor and denied the motion. (COMMENT: This is a clear
example of how the deck is stacked against the defense, where
even the most appropriate application of the defense is
denied because it would make it more difficult for the court
to justify its inevitable guilty verdict. This connivance by
the prosecution and judiciary to deliver a conviction in
every case is not a new phenomenon restricted solely to the
trials of oppositionists. In the vast majority of criminal
cases in Armenia, the judges favor the prosecution and very
rarely the court acquits the defendant or otherwise
contravenes the wishes of the prosecutor. In the cases
against oppositionists, even such rare exceptions are not
possible, and the judges so far have granted virtually all
prosecution applications and denied virtually all defense
motions. END COMMENT.)


11. (C) One further example demonstrates the lack of judicial
independence. In one case, eight witnesses had alleged that
the defendants had hindered election activities; thereafter
six of the eight witnesses claimed that their purported
statements as submitted into evidence by investigators had
been forged by police, and they had not witnessed any such

YEREVAN 00000473 003.2 OF 003


crimes. The two other witnesses had left Armenia for Russia.
Notwithstanding these deficiencies in the prosecution's
case, the judge refused to release the defendants from
detention.

--------------
BREAKDOWN ON VERDICTS SO FAR
--------------


12. (C) Out of 26 individuals convicted so far, 16 have been
sentenced to actual jail time, with ten others receiving
suspended sentences. All of these ten pleaded guilty and
expressed public regrets seemingly in exchange for the
suspended sentence, obviating prison time. The sentences
imposed so far range from one and a half years to six years
of incarceration. (NOTE: The sentences that have been meted
out so far are in keeping with standard Armenian sentences
for such charges, which carry lower penalties than similar
ones in the United States. END NOTE.)

--------------
GROUPS SUPPORTING DETAINEES
--------------


13. (C) Several civic groups have emerged or re-profiled
their activities into supporting the oppositionists detained
in the aftermath of the March 1 clashes. Among them are the
wives of detainees (coordinated by the Amcit wife of former
Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Arzumanian),HIMA (NOW)
youth movement, and Karabakh war veterans. Many of these
groups have engaged in publicized hunger strikes in support
of the detainees. Protest actions so far have taken the form
of pickets in front of government buildings, youth marching
through Yerevan dressed as inmates, signature drives, etc.
The demonstrations have rarely fielded more than 100 people
at any one time, which leaves them below the legal threshold
that would require government permission to stage a rally or
march.

--------------
COMMENT
--------------


14. (C) While at least a few of the opposition defendants are
doubtless less than saintly, the prosecutions taken together
have spotlighted the deep flaws of the Armenian criminal
justice system at its worst. Emboffs have witnessed cases in
which meticulously prepared defense attorneys systematically
shredded flimsy cases lackadaisically presented by the
prosecution, as all the prosecution's ostensible witnesses
disavowed statements attributed to them. None of this
matters; the judge always renders a guilty verdict. These
prosecutions are politically motivated, and orchestrated as
part of a comprehensive campaign to emasculate the leadership
of the opposition, freeze its financial resources, and damage
its operational capacities. Despite the authorities'
efforts, however, the well-attended, well-publicized trials
may be having the opposite effect, instead helping to ignite
a civic consciousness that increasingly challenges
authorities' hold on power. END COMMENT.
PENNINGTON