NEWSPAPER STAFF PROTEST EDITOR’S ARREST
By Hovannes Shoghikian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
June 27 2006
Journalists working for an independent Armenian newspaper picketed
the Prosecutor-General’s Office on Tuesday to condemn the arrest of
their young editor-in-chief accused of draft evasion.
Arman Babajanian of the "Zhamanak Yerevan" newspaper was detained in
his office and questioned by prosecutors for several hours on Monday.
A statement released by the law-enforcement agency said he confessed
"in the presence of his defense attorney" to forging personal documents
to dodge compulsory military service in 2002. No further details of
the criminal case have been made public so far.
The allegations were rejected as unfounded and politically motivated by
"Zhamanak Yerevan" staff that staged a protest outside the prosecutors’
headquarters in downtown Yerevan along with a small group of other
reporters, human rights campaigners and opposition activists. They
chanted "Shame! Shame!" and carried posters that referred to the
30-year-old editor as a "political prisoner."
"We don’t believe that he made a confession in the presence of his
lawyer because he did not have one," said Manuk Sukiasian, the paper’s
executive director. "He hired a lawyer only today."
Babajanian’s deputy Liza Chagharian and other colleagues claimed
that he is being prosecuted for publishing articles critical of
President Robert Kocharian, Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian and
other senior officials. "I insist that his arrest is connected with
his journalistic activities," she said.
The National Press Club, which mainly unites journalists critical
of the Armenian government, echoed these claims, saying that the
authorities are trying to bully the independent media ahead of
next year’s parliamentary elections. "The NPC demands that the
law-enforcement bodies stick to the letter and spirit of law and do
not become a tool in the regime’s hands," it said in a statement.
Two other, more moderate media associations also expressed concern at
Babajanian’s arrest. In a joint open letter, the Yerevan Press Club
and the Committee to Support Freedom of Speech urged the Armenian
prosecutor-general to name the lawyer who witnessed the editor’s
alleged confession.
Babajanian was not formally charged with draft evasion as of Tuesday
evening. Under Armenian law, the prosecutors have to press the charges
or set him free by Thursday morning.
They rejected on Tuesday the protesters’ demands to release Babajanian
pending investigation. A spokeswoman for the Prosecutor-General’s
Office, Sona Truzian, argued that indicted draft dodgers are normally
kept in pre-trial custody in Armenia. "In this sense, Arman Babajanian
is not an exception to the rule," she told RFE/RL.
"Zhamanak Yerevan" was set up last year and currently sells several
thousand copies in Yerevan and California, which is home to a large
Armenian community. Its news reporting has generally been critical
of the Armenian authorities.