Reasons advanced for
which the person concerned could be regarded as the victim of political
persecution:
Mr Karapetyan is
the Founder and the President of “Nor Zhamanakner” party, which has joined the
opposition movement in Armeniabefore the Parliamentary Elections of 2007. He is also well known representative Armenian Community in Moscow, Russia.
During 2008 Elections he tried to put forward his candidacy but the CEC refused to register him as a Candidate for Presidency on the ground of citizenship. Afterwards he has joined Levon
Ter-Petrosyan.
In the course of his public
appearances Mr. Karapetyanhas made a number
of accusations against President Kocharyan and then candidate for presidency, Prime Minister Sargsyan.He implicitly
blamed President Robert Kocharyan and Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan for the
October 1999 assassinations in Armenia’s
parliament.
Karapetyan was
arrested on February 24 on charges of “false denunciation” stemming from the
distribution of DVDs featuring his questions to then President Robert Kocharyan
and his incoming successor, Serzh Sargsyan. He challenged them to publicly
explain whether they planned a controversial land swap with Azerbaijan in September 1999 and
whether then Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan and Parliament Speaker Karen
Demirchyan, who were assassinated shortly afterwards, opposed it.
Karapetyan has
been kept in the pre trial detention for more than three months. During this
period of time the case didn’t move from the starting point: no interrogations,
no proves of his guilt were presented. All motions of defence lawyers concerning
the alteration of the restraint
measure were rejected by the court without any substantive reasons.
In the beginning of June his health condition has
become worse. Remaining in custody became dangerous for his
life. Dr. Armen Gasparyan, a cardiologist who examined
Aram Karapetyan in prison, said during a press conference that the leader of
the opposition party is suffering and will risk heaving a heart attack or stroke unless he is “immediately” hospitalized.
A spokesman for a Justice Ministry department managing Armenia’s
prisons insisted, however, that Karapetyan’s heart troubles are not grave and
that he can receive medical treatment in the NSS’s basement jail. The
department has nonetheless decided to form a special commission of its own medics
and independent doctors that will look into Gasparyan’s claims. It is worth
mentioning that Armen Gasparyan, who worked at a cardiology clinic of the
Armenian Medical University which is located in Erebuni Hospital premises,
after his news conference was told by hospital director that he will not be
allowed to enter the sprawling building anymore because of visiting Karapetyan
and identifying himself as an Erebuni doctor.
Karapetyan was hospitalized only after another doctor who examined him in jail,
warned that the opposition leader will risk suffering a heart attack or stroke
unless he receives urgent medical treatment. Karapetyan’s hospitalization
failed to satisfy his supporters. In a statement, Nor Zhamanakner said it
distrusts the doctors treating the party leader and wants him to be examined by
“independent” doctors.
Under public pressure Mr. Karapetyan was released and allowed to leave the
country for treatment. According to the Armenian authorities, the preliminary
inquiry concerning Mr. Karapetyan penal case has been suspended until he recovers.
