Request To Call On Arm Authorities

REQUEST To Call on the Authorities of the Republic of Armenia Dear Sir/Madam, On July 1, 2009, Nikol Pashinyan, Editor-in-Chief of The Armenian Times (Haykakan Zhamanak) daily, voluntarily left the underground, where he had spent 16 months, and surrendered himself to the law enforcement authorities of the Republic of Armenia. As a result, he was immediately arrested. Pashinyan is charged with "Violence against a representative of authorities" (Article 316, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Armenia), "Organization of mass disorder" (Article 225, Part 1), and "Organization of a mass event in breach of procedures defined by law" (Article 2251), allegedly committed during the events of March 1-2, 2008, when at least 10 persons were killed in the center of Yerevan. The US State Department referred to these deaths in its Human Rights Report 2008 on Armenia: "Some of these deaths may have occurred from purposeful arbitrary killing, misuse of crowd control equipment such as tear-gas cartridge guns or some combination of these factors. There were no credible criminal investigations into the actions of any police or security officers in connection with any of these deaths."

A few days after the surrender, the court decided to impose detention on Nikol Pashinyan as a measure of restraint. The court disregarded the fact that, by a decree of the President of Armenia and a resolution of the National Assembly (the Armenian Parliament), an amnesty was applied toward persons detained as a result of events of March 1-2, 2008. By detaining Nikol Pashinyan, Armenian authorities also disregarded the request of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) contained in the Resolution 1677 (2009) on "The functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia", quoted below (emphasis added by Haykakan Zhamanak daily): 5. The Assembly therefore welcomes the proposal for a general amnesty submitted by the President of Armenia to the National Assembly on 16 June 2009 and its prompt adoption by the National Assembly on 19 June 2009. In relation to this amnesty, the Assembly: 5.3. Notes that … the amnesty will also apply to those persons charged in relation to the events of 1 and 2 March 2008 who are currently in hiding, after the completion of their trials, if they present themselves to the authorities before 31 July 2009. The page 1 of 3

Assembly urges the authorities, in view of a possible application of the amnesty after completion of their cases in the courts, to allow the persons concerned to remain free pending the duration of their trial if they present themselves to the authorities before 31 July 2009.

According to Resolution 1677 (2009), the amnesty must also apply to persons in hiding, provided they present themselves to the authorities before 31 July 2009. As of today, August 26, 2009, Pashinyan is still in detention in the special prison located at the National Security Service (former KGB) of Armenia. During July and August 2009, a large number of local human rights and media-related nongovernmental organizations, as well as prominent journalists and arts people urged the Armenian authorities to cancel Nikol Pashinyan's current measure of restraint (detention) and to release him on his personal recognizance. For the detention to be maintained, at least one of the following three elements is needed: 1. risk of escape, 2. risk to commit a crime, or 3. risk of obstruction. In the case of Nikol Pashinyan, there is no risk of escape because he has voluntarily surrendered himself to the authorities. And in order to detain a person based on the risk of committing a new crime, the court must have serious evidences, which, in this case, have not been presented by investigators. Finally, one cannot take into account the risk of obstruction because the facts were established long time before the Pashinyan's surrender. We, representatives of The Armenian Times (Haykakan Zhamanak) daily, kindly ask you, on behalf of your organization, to call on the Armenian authorities to respect and follow the request of the Council of Europe reflected in the PACE Resolution 1677 (2009), and immediately release Nikol Pashinyan from detention. Without going into details regarding Pashinyan's political activities in 2007-2008, we believe that disregarding the PACE Resolution 1677 by the Armenian authorities is inadmissible and constitutes a discrimination against the well-known editor and political figure. Change of the measure of restraint would be considered as a sign of goodwill and respect for freedom of speech on behalf of the Armenian authorities. We are grateful for the time and attention rendered to this important cause. Please find below Nikol Pashinyan's brief biography for your reference. Please do not hesitate to contact us in case you have questions or need further information related to the presented subject. Respectfully, Anna V. Hakobyan Director, Dareskizb Co. Ltd. (The Armenian Times daily)

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NIKOL PASHINYAN

A brief bio Nikol Pashinyan (1975) is a well-known Armenian journalist and editor. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the leading Armenian daily – “Haykakan Zhamanak” (The Armenian Times). Nikol Pashinyan’s rise as a journalist was rapid: in early 1990s, still a University student, he became one of the most quoted Armenian authors due to his fresh and uncompromised look at events in the country and around it. When Pashinyan was only 23, in 1999, he established his first daily newspaper – “Oragir” (Daily reader). Through fabricated court trials, Armenian authorities closed down the paper. Nevertheless, in a couple of months Nikol Pashinyan founded a new daily, “Haykakan Zhamanak,” which soon became the no. 1 daily in the country in terms of circulation, holding that position till today. Feeling that establishing a newspaper and achieving the highest circulation among political newspapers in Armenia was insufficient in terms of struggle for democracy and freedom of speech in the country, Pashinyan decided to gradually become more active on the political arena of Armenia. In late 2006, Pashinyan got involved in active politics: he was one of the co-founders of “Alternative” Movement. In May 2007, Alternative, as part of the “Impeachment” bloc, participated in the Parliamentary elections, which, as usual, were again falsified by the authorities. In response to massive fraud and violence, Nikol Pashinyan initiated an unprecedented protest action in Freedom Square in Yerevan – “1+” – that became a highly popular form of protest for thousands of people. In 2007, Levon Ter-Petrossian, the first President of the Republic of Armenia, returned to active politics, and this process was largely based on the achievements of “Alternative” Movement, while Nikol Pashinyan became one of the key figures in Ter-Petrossian’s electoral campaign. When in the early morning on March 1, 2008, before the dawn, special armed forces attacked peaceful protesters gathered in the Freedom Square in downtown Yerevan, Nikol Pashinyan was among the protesters, together with President Ter-Petrossian. Following a bloody oppression of peaceful riot in the evening of the same day, Pashinyan was in hiding. He continued writing articles and editorials for Haykakan Zhamanak daily, as well as his first novel – “The Other Side of the World”. On July 1, 2009, Nikol Pashinyan left the underground and surrendered to the Armenian authorities. Currently Pashinyan is detained in the special prison located at the National Security Service (former KGB) of Armenia. He faces up to 10 years of detention. N. Pashinyan is married; he has two daughters and a son. page 3 of 3