Protest Outside Former KGB Building in Yerevan, Armenia (photos)

A protest took place outside the National Security Service of Armenia building (formerly the KGB building) today in defense of Heritage Party MP Zaruhi Postanjyan’s brother Tigran Postanjyan.

As previously reported, Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General, in an official statement published on Feb. 21, that Mr. Postanjyan, who works for the local government of Yerevan’s Arabkir district, was paid 100,000 drams (about $275 US) last September to turn a blind eye to illegal construction carried out by an unnamed local resident. As reported by RFE/RL’s Armenian service, it is still not clear why the prosecutors waited for six months to open the criminal case.

A criminal case was instituted under Article 311-1, part 1 (Illegal payment taken by a public servant who is not considered an official) of the Criminal Code.

Participating in today’s protest was Zaruhi Postanjyan, her sister with her two small children, Heritage Party MPs Larisa Alaverdyan and Armen Martirosyan, members of the Sardarapat Movement Jirair Sefilian and Tigran Khzmalyan as well as others.

Demonstrators had brought with them posters with such inscriptions as “NKVD = KGB = NSS” (NKVD, the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs, the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union = KGB = Armenia’s NSS), “The year ’37 will be repeated” (Stalin’s Year of Terror, also known as the Great Purge) and “You won’t scare us.”

Those gathered were chanting “We’re all Tigran,” “Freedom to all political hostages,” and “Free, just Armenia.”

When chief deputy of the RA Police Kentron (central) division Arayik Petrosyan appeared near the NSS building, Zaruhi Postanjyan addressed him through a megaphone: “Mr. Petrosyan, are you militia or police? Are you a pig or a police officer? Mr. Petrosyan, have they not exerted violence against you, have they not torn your epaulets, have they not spit on you?” But Petrosyan did not answer.

Responding to journalists’ questions at the end of the demonstration, Zaruhi Postanjyan, speaking about her brother’s arrest, said, “I know where all this comes from, it’s not for no reason that every time they invite us to consultations and they try to resolve the political and social situation in the republic. They realize that Heritage is able to carry out protest actions, which can change the situation. And based on that, it’s not for no reason that after the approximately 12.5 hours of mass events on the streets of Gyumri a decision was made that, supposedly, six months ago an incident took place, to distract both me and the Heritage Party. Let them try, it’s all the same, those attempts won’t succeed.”