OPPOSITION CALLS FOR SPECIAL PARLIAMENT SESSION OVER RESTAURANT BEATING DEATH

Politics | 13.07.12 | 13:13

The parliamentary faction of the opposition Armenian National Congress
(ANC) has issued a statement calling for a special session of the
National Assembly over the recent deadly beating of a young army
doctor. The ANC said the case has elicited a wide public response,
is linked to a lawmaker and may affect the ‘moral and psychological
condition’ in the army.

The opposition minority is also seeking a separate inquiry into last
month’s violence at Yerevan’s Harsnakar restaurant that is owned by
the family of Ruben Hayrapetyan, an affluent businessman close to
the government.

In a statement issued on behalf all opposition groups in the National
Assembly, including the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), Heritage
and Dashnaktsutyun, the ANC said the parliament must meet for an
emergency session next week and set up an ad hoc commission tasked
with investigating the June 17 incident.

Civil protests that followed the death in hospital of 33-year-old Vahe
Avetyan, one of the three victims of the beating, led to Hayrapetyan
announcing his resignation as lawmaker. Civil rights activists,
however, continue to call for a full and fair investigation of the
incident that apparently involves Hayrapetyan’s bodyguard.

The parliament session will go ahead if it is demanded, in writing,
by at least 44 members of the 131-seat assembly. The four opposition
factions hold a total of 54 parliament seats. But some representatives
of the opposition cast doubts over the feasibility of collecting the
required number of signatures.

Prosperous Armenia’s Naira Zohrabyan told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service
that “a considerable part of PAP faction members are not in the
country at the moment.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress