Armenian opposition condemns government's denial of OSCE ODIHR report

The opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) has released a statement condemning the ruling authorities and governmental bodies for denying a recent report by OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the events of March 1, 2008.

The report, having thoroughly studied and evaluated the process of about 100 criminal cases, revealed dozens of facts and tough violations of such rights as a person’s right to freedom, presumption of innocence, the principle of equality of sides, sentencing people based only on evidence given by the police and extorted through terrorizing and degrading treatment.

The ANC statement says that the Ministry of Justice denies “unlawful actions and mistakes” committed by a law enforcement body (especially the Prosecutor’s Office) which it has nothing to do with, while the Ministry is forgetful of the fact that it has no such authority, neither by the Constitution nor by law.

Further, the Armenian National Congress says that the Court of Cassation, in turn, maintains its right to express opinions and provide assessments in relation to March 1 events, while most of the appeals weren’t even examined or heard in court.

“These two state bodies, unaware of March 1 cases, are shamelessly objecting and trying to deny what happened in front of thousands of citizens, they are faking known realities and facts, they are distorting what is objective and real, they are trying to smear and smother what international co-rapporteurs observed and registered,” reads the statement, adding that instead of hunting down the perpetrators, the ruling authorities have settled down to the short-sighted and disreputable task of denying what was stated by the report.


/Tert.am/