Epress.am News from Armenia
An article written by local Armenian daily Haykakan Jamanak (“Armenian Times”) chief editor, imprisoned journalist Nikol Pashinyan on Jan. 19 but published today explores parallels between Turkish-Armenian editor and journalist Hrant Dink, assassinated by a Turkish nationalist on Jan. 19, 2007, and Vahan Khalafyan, who died under suspicious circumstances while in police custody last summer.
Pashinyan begins by noting, understandably, on Jan. 19, media reports addressed the anniversary of Dink’s death, which many say would not have happened if Turkish police were not negligent in their job. Further, the court case has been called a farce and not all those responsible for the journalist’s murder have been uncovered.
“Absorbed by my thoughts, at one point I thought that the news broadcast parallel to my thoughts was about Hrant Dink’s murder. But something seemed strange, and focusing my attention, I realized that another report was being broadcast, not about Hrant Dink’s murder, and this realization shook me up: for the simple reason that the arguments in connection with Dink’s murder which I had been hearing all day were also applicable to this case…,” writes Pashinyan.
It turned out that Jan. 19 is also the birthday of 24-year-old Vahan Khalafyan, and, writes Pashinyan, the arguments put forth by Khalafyan’s relatives were very similar to those raised in the Dink case.
Pashinyan, thus, arrived at the following conclusions:
“If Armenia’s police wanted, Vahan Khalafyan would’ve been alive today.
“The Vahan Khalafyan trial was simply a farce. Not all those who are guilty stood before the court.
“Vahan Khalafyan was killed because he was Armenian.
“If the last conclusion seems doubtful to you, it shouldn’t be. Because no police officer, Armenian officer would dare take a foreigner to the police division for no reason, torture him then kill him (or lead him to commit suicide),” writes Pashinyan.
Continuing the parallels, Pashinyan notes that Turkish authorities didn’t want to admit that as a result of their activities, or rather, inaction, they violated Dink’s right to life. Likewise, writes Pashinyan, Armenian authorities don’t want to admit that they violated the right to life of the 10 victims of March 1, 2008.
Recall that mass protests against alleged electoral fraud, organized by supporters of unsuccessful presidential candidate, first president of the Republic of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossian, followed the Feb. 2008 presidential election in Armenia. On Mar. 1, 2008, national police and military forces, called in to disperse the crowds, used “excessive force and violence” which left 10 people dead and many more wounded.
Armenian authorities arrested many Ter-Petrossian supporters in the wake of the unrest. Ironically, it was also on Jan. 19, 2010, that an Armenia court found Nikol Pashinyan guilty in organizing “mass disturbances” on Mar. 1, 2008, and sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment.
The oppositionist will have to serve only half of the prison sentence because of a general amnesty declared by the authorities in June 2009. Both he and Ter-Petrossian’s Armenian National Congress consider the case politically motivated.