Epress.am News from Armenia
The clothing and footwear shop “Milano” located at 4 Abovyan St. in Yerevan was taken down on Monday morning. According to a government decision, the area the building rests on (recognized as a priority, public interest land) has been alienated, after which the demolition work was to have begun.
Heritage Party MP Stepan (Styopa) Safaryan told Epress.am it’s already been a few years that they, along with Milano’s owners, have been raising alarms to different government agencies on the violation of property rights; however, their efforts have been in vain.
“Last year, I submitted a 7-page analysis to the RA Prosecutor General’s Office, and I noted on how many counts Milano’s owner’s rights were violated. However, the Prosecutor General, not taking the risk to examine the existing decision, gave a brief response in writing, which wasn’t even an answer, since there was no legal response,” he said.
According to the MP, at around 8 pm on Aug. 20, they received a call that some people were taking apart the pavement outside Milano.
“I and [fellow Heritage Party MP] Anahit Bakhshyan went to the scene where we saw several police officers and several contractors from whom we were unable to ascertain whether they were employees of a lawful, licensed company. We had a meeting with the head of the Yerevan Kentron [“Centre”] police department and we suggested they obligate the party carrying out demolition work to cease work at least outside working hours and days,” said Safaryan.
The opposition deputy said that there was another attempt to take down the building on Sunday.
“Today we became informed that early in the morning the soil was levelled — when nearly at the same time, Anahit Bakhshyan was meeting with the Yerevan mayor, who promised to review this issue.”
Safaryan said the Milano owner’s rights were violated by the Armenian government.
“Basically, the tragedy of Northern Avenue continues. The present corresponding bodies continue not to protect the property rights of citizens of the Republic of Armenia, and none of us can be assured that one day, by a Government decision, his house, his property won’t be considered public interest and and won’t be taken from your hands. This, as well as the kiosk owners’ issue, are precedents and incite people to rebellion. When you spur a person to a corner, you pressure him, you can only expect a blow from him,” he said.
Note, until Aug. 20, no activities were carried out in the public interest area for a few years. On Aug. 11, the owner submitted a motion to the court, asking the demolition and modification of the building be banned; however, on Aug. 18, the Yerevan mayor gave the developer permission to demolish the building.
According to Safaryan, when they asked to see the written permission, it was “practically an empty [piece of] paper.”
“There was neither the new owner’s name nor details about licensing nor anything,” he added.