Epress.am News from Armenia
Göran Lindblad is very well aware of the situation in Armenia and could have come to Armenia for 3 days, regardless of what type of campaign he has to participate in in his country, said Heritage Party member and Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Armenian delegation member Zaruhi Postanjyan while speaking to journalists today, referring to the head of the PACE Swedish delegation not coming to Armenia since he was participating in parliamentary elections in Sweden.
Postanjyan said that if Lindblad wanted to prepare a report on Armenia, he should have come to Armenia sooner.
“I think that he would be honest if he said that he hasn’t come to Armenia because he’s participating in an [election] campaign. Basically, he prefers to campaign, and not Armenia’s issues, which are universal, since the issue of individuals imprisoned because of political reasons is an issue of freedom of speech, [and] it should concern the entire world,” she said.
As an example, Postanjyan cited PACE Monitoring Committee co-rapporteur John Prescott (pictured) and former co-rapporter Georges Colombier’s shortcomings last winter, who likewise didn’t come to Armenia, which means that discussions didn’t take place.
“Such behavior is highly objectionable,” she said.
According to the Heritage Party member, the co-rapporteurs will be participating in the upcoming Council of Europe Forum for the Future of Democracy; however, in the Monitoring Committee’s November session, there will not be a report on Armenia since the co-rapporteurs won’t be coming to Armenia on a fact-finding mission.
“It can be assumed that the Armenian government is in cahoots with the co-rapporteurs,” said Postanjyan.