VZCZCXRO0049
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHYE #1365/01 3231429
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191429Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6657
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0451

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 001365 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL AND EUR/CARC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM AM
SUBJECT: PRO-OPPOSITION YOUTH ACTIVIST SEVERELY BEATEN 
 
 
YEREVAN 00001365  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
(U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (SBU) On Thursday November 15 Narek Galstian, a student activist, 
was attacked by three men and severely beaten.  The attack came two 
days after police reportedly detained him for posting leaflets 
advertising the upcoming Levon Ter-Petrosian rally on Friday, 
November 16.  Galstian and opposition party leaders are pointing the 
finger at the government for  allegedly orchestrating the attack. 
Government officials, however, have denied such claims. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
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POLICE WARN AGAINST DISTRIBUTING ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROPOGANDA 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Narek Galstian, the leader of the Sargis Tkhruni 
student-youth union of the opposition Social-Democrat Hnchakyan 
Party (SDHK), was arrested by police November 13.  He and another 
group member were reportedly posting leaflets critical of Serzh 
Sargsian's candidacy, and informing people about the upcoming rally 
of Levon Ter-Petrosian.  Lyudmila Sargsian, the SDHK chairwoman, 
asserts that the two men were admonished by police against 
distributing 'anti-government propaganda,' and that they were 
mistreated while in police custody.  She alleged that the chief of 
Yerevan police, Major General Nerses Nazarian, personally hit the 
two men.  She says of the incident: "the fact that a police general 
does not shy away from beating 19- and 20- year-old young men, and 
even trying to stuff a leaflet into their mouths and force them to 
eat it... shows that this is a police state."  Larisa Alaverdyan, MP 
from the opposition Heritage Party, was quoted saying "a sad 
tradition has been created in Armenia, according to which 
distribution of leaflets is not considered a normal phenomenon by 
Armenian law enforcement." 
 
¶3.  (SBU) A police spokesman confirmed to us privately that Galstian 
was "invited" to the police station for a discussion about what he 
was doing, but denies that he was ever involuntarily detained or 
arrested, or that he suffered any mistreatment. 
 
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GALSTIAN TAKEN FROM TAXI AND BEATEN 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) On his way to work on Thursday November 16, three men 
blocked Galstian's taxi, forcing it to stop.  The three unidentified 
men then took Galstian from the car and severely beat him.  Galstian 
was hospitalized as a result of the attack.  He has reported that 
the men warned him that they would kill him next time if he talked 
to newspapers.  In an interview from the hospital Galstian has 
accused the authorities of orchestrating the attack, calling it part 
of an ongoing government campaign of 'repression' against the 
opposition and those who support Levon Ter-Petrosian.  The attack 
came just two days after his detention and one day before the 
Ter-Petrosian rally, causing many to conclude that the incidents 
were connected and that it was politically motivated. 
 
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THE GOVERNMENT REACTS 
--------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) On November 16, President Robert Kocharian denied any 
involvement of the authorities, in response to a press conference 
question.  Dismissing any political motive, the president said that 
Galstian was too young and little-known to pose a threat to his and 
Sargsian's rule.  "As always, whatever happens to anyone in the 
run-up to elections is linked with politics," he told reporters. "I 
personally never heard about that lad.  I didn't know there was such 
a political figure. I don't think he was of interest to anyone," 
Kocharian added.  Several pro-government parties have commented on 
the attack.  Artsvik Minasian, an MP from the Armenian Revolutionary 
Federation (ARF-Dashnaks) said that his party could not comment on 
the attack, since violence against a representative of a political 
party did not necessarily mean that the attack was politically 
motivated.  Naira Zohrabian, an MP from the Prosperous Armenia 
party, told reporters that the authorities would not have 
orchestrated such an attack, as it would have a damaging effect on 
their image. 
 
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OPPOSITION PARTIES CONDEMN THE ATTACK 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) At hisNovember 16 public rally in Yerevan, Levon 
Ter-Petrosian during his speech (septel) made mention of Galstian 
 
YEREVAN 00001365  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
and condemned the attack on him.  Ter-Petrosian demanded that 
Nazarian, the Yerevan police chief, be fired and that failure of the 
authorities to do so would implicate both Kocharian and Serzh 
Sargsian in orchestrating the beating.  The SDHK leader, Lyudmila 
Sargsian, also alleges that the government was behind the attack, 
and is quoted in the press as saying, "Nowadays police will not take 
any action without orders from above. I link [the beating] to the 
highest echelons of power."  Members of the opposition have tied the 
beating to what they claim is a wider range of 'repression' 
unleashed by the government against supporters of the opposition, 
including the tax inspections on Sil Holding and GALA TV. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶7. (SBU) This latest event seems to be another troubling example of 
the government's failure to protect the opposition's rights to free 
expression without fear of reprisal.  We have no evidence to support 
the assertion that the police were specifically behind the beating, 
but we believe that the attack was most probably politically 
motivated and done by one or another pro-government faction. 
 
PENNINGTON