FUGITIVE EX-MINISTER DENIED ELECTION REGISTRATION
By Karine Kalantarian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 6 2007
A Yerevan court on Friday upheld the refusal by election officials
to register Eduard Madatian, a fugitive former transport minister
charged with plotting to assassinate Armenia’s top leaders, as a
candidate in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Madatian is believed to have fled the country in November 2004 to
avoid prosecution for allegedly masterminding a failed attempt on
the life of President Robert Kocharian and then Defense Minister
Serzh Sarkisian. His whereabouts have remained unknown since then,
with law-enforcement authorities saying only that he lives abroad.
A criminal investigation into the alleged assassination bid was
suspended in July 2005 due to their failure to track down and arrest
Madatian. Few details of the mysterious criminal case have been
made public.
Madatian, who ran the Armenian Ministry of Transport and Communications
from 1999-2002, reminded the government of his existence last month
when newspaper reports revealed his intention to run for parliament
from a single-mandate constituency in Yerevan’s southern Erebuni
district. The ex-minister, better known to local residents as Khuchuch
(Curly) Edo, wielded considerable economic and political influence
in the area before going into hiding.
The district election commission rejected the registration request
on the grounds that Madatian failed to submit a police statement
certifying that he has resided in Armenia for the past five years,
something which is required by law. The Erebuni court of first instance
upheld the decision, rejecting an appeal lodged on behalf of Madatian
by his brother Grigor and lawyer, Hovik Arsenian,.
Both men claimed that the ex-minister actually lives in Armenia and
is hiding from police because he fears for his life. "Eduard Madatian
did permanently reside in Armenia in 2005 and 2006," Arsenian told
the court.
Seeking to substantiate the claims, Grigor Madatian dialed an
undisclosed number on his mobile phone to call a man who identified
himself as his fugitive brother. The man told RFE/RL that he is
currently in Armenia and will turn himself in if he is registered as
a candidate.
Under Armenian law, parliamentary election candidates can be detained
and prosecuted only with the Central Election Commission’s permission.
A police representative, Taguhi Hovsepian, defended the Erebuni
police department’s refusal to certify Madatian’s eligibility for
the elections. "How can we certify his residency in Armenia?" she
told the court. "Maybe that person doesn’t physically exist anymore."
Hovsepian also said the police discovered in 2005 that Madatian
had obtained Russian citizenship in 1994 in violation of Armenia’s
constitution which did not allow dual nationality until recently.