PRESS RELEASE
The Heritage Party
31 Moscovian Street
Yerevan 0002, Armenia
Tel.: (+374 – 10) 27.00.03, 27.16.00 (temporary)
Fax: (+374 – 10) 52.48.46 (temporary)
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website:
February 27, 2007
Heritage Finally Allowed to Remove Property
Yerevan–Today marshals from the Service for Mandatory Execution of Judicial
Acts (SMEJA) of the Ministry of Justice at long last reopened the locked and
sealed doors of Heritage Party headquarters, and allowed the office staff to
remove the property belonging to Heritage and its founder Raffi K.
Hovannisian. The property had been held captive for nearly one year inside
the premises which Hovannisian had lawfully leased from the Paronian State
Theater.
During the inspection of the main office, which took place in the company of
SMEJA officials, Heritage staff noticed that several pieces of equipment and
other items in Raffi Hovannisian’s bureau had been moved from their original
places. Despite the demands of the party representatives, the marshals did
not officially take note of this evident fact.
The opening of the office doors followed Heritage’s numerous formal
petitions–to SMEJA, the Minister of Justice, the Prosecutor General, and
the Republic’s ombudsman–which previously had not received the courtesy,
and legal imperative, of a reply. The sole response came on February 26,
three days after Raffi Hovannisian had reminded a Yerevan press conference
that Heritage was entering the registration cycle of the upcoming
parliamentary elections still locked out of its party headquarters and
deprived of its rightful access to its property and documentary resource
base, including the party’s original bylaws which are required for election
registration. Hovannisian had promised to secure his civil rights "in
emergency fashion" if the doors were not opened immediately.
As such, the yearlong saga of Heritage’s office lockdown and subsequent
break-in moved into its next phase.
Founded in 2002, Heritage has regional divisions throughout the land. As of
today, its central office is no longer located at 7 Vazgen Sargsian Street,
Yerevan 0010, Armenia. The new address is 31 Moscovian Street, Yerevan 0002,
Armenia, with email contact at [email protected] and website at