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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 YEREVAN 000106 
 
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SUBJECT:  ELECTION SEASON HUMAN RIGHTS ROUND-UP (JANUARY-FEBRUARY) 
 
REFS:  A) YEREVAN 90 B) YEREVAN 86 C) 07 YEREVAN 1446 D) 07 YEREVAN 
 
1335 E) 07 YEREVAN 1338 F) 07 YEREVAN 1362 
 
YEREVAN 00000106  001.2 OF 006 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.  PLEASE 
HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. 
 
¶1. (SBU) In light of the current presidential election in Armenia, 
scheduled for Tuesday, February 19, this issue of Yerevan's Human 
Rights Round-up is exclusively dedicated to reported and alleged 
election-related violations.  Reports are organized chronologically. 
 
 
This issue's headlines: 
 
--------- 
HEADLINES 
--------- 
 
-- GYUMRI PRESS CLUB ALLEGES ARSON ATTEMPT ON OFFICE 
-- PROSECUTOR GENERAL CREATES ELECTORAL FRAUD UNIT 
-- ORINATS YERKIR OFFICE IN VANADZOR VANDALIZED 
-- LTP SUPPORTERS DETAINED AFTER RALLY SCUFFLE IN TALIN 
-- POLICE CLOSE LTP OFFICE IN KAPAN (SOUTHERN ARMENIA) 
-- LTP CAMPAIGN ALLEGES VIOLATION OF RIGHT TO ASSEMBLY 
-- POLICE IMPOUND CARS FROM LTP'S MOTORCADE 
-- LTP OFFICE IN YEREVAN DISTRICT SET ABLAZE 
-- OSCE CRITICIZES IMBALANCED TV COVERAGE OF OPPOSITION 
-- PROSECTOR GENERAL'S OFFICE SHOT AT 
-- LTP OFFICE ATTACKED IN VANADZOR (NORTHERN ARMENIA) 
-- ALLEGATIONS OF VOTE-RIGGING IN GYUMRI 
-- HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN DISCOURAGES VOTE-SELLING 
-- LTP CAMP CRIES FOUL ON FORMATION OF GRIEVANCE BODY 
-- REPUBLICAN PARTY OFFICES SHOT AT IN YEREVAN, VILLAGE 
-- BAGHDASSARIAN ALLEGES DEATH THREAT MADE AGAINST HIM 
-- ELECTION MONITOR NGO CONCERNED ABOUT VOTER LISTS 
-- VIOLENCE MARS LTP RALLY IN ARTASHAT (ARARAT REGION) 
-- YPC MEDIA MONITORING FINDINGS:  DISTORTED COVERAGE 
-- LPT ACTIVISTS BEATEN IN YEREVAN, HOSPITALIZED 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
GYUMRI PRESS CLUB ALLEGES ARSON ATTEMPT ON OFFICE 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. (U) On January 22, the Gyumri Journalists' Club "Asparez" 
released a statement accusing unidentified individuals of attempting 
to set fire to its office in the early morning of January 19 when a 
piece of cloth, soaked in petrol and set ablaze, was thrown at one 
of their windows.  Part of the window burned and the glass cracked 
as a result of the incident, before the fire was extinguished. 
 
¶3. (U) In its statement, "Asparez" noted that it had resolved not to 
take the issue to the police, given its negative track record with 
previous police investigations of attempted trespassing in 2002-2006 
that had yielded no results.  Police launched an investigation 
anyway, in response to media reports of the incident.  On its 
website, "Asparez" announced a USD 1,000 reward for information 
about the attack. 
 
¶4. (SBU) "Asparez" is closely affiliated with the embattled GALA TV 
station, whose coverage of LTP in October, 2007 landed it in trouble 
with the authorities, who have since investigated and charged the TV 
station with tax evasion and illegal use of a Gyumri TV broadcast 
tower.  (NOTE:  While court proceedings against GALA have been in 
abeyance since mid-December, the independent TV station has 
continued to broadcast, and has been actively sought out by 
opposition candidates and their party to cover their campaign 
events.  END NOTE.) The head of "Asparez" and GALA's owner are close 
acquaintances who have worked together to protest the actions taken 
against GALA.  Asparez also seems to have aligned itself with the 
LTP campaign. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
PROSECUTOR GENERAL CREATES ELECTORAL FRAUD UNIT 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶5. (U) On January 23 the office of the prosecutor general reported 
that it had formed an ad hoc unit tasked with preventing and swiftly 
reacting to possible instances of fraud in the upcoming presidential 
election.  Aram Tamazian, the Deputy Prosecutor General in charge of 
the unit's work, said the unit's source of information would be 
reports of fraud and allegations appearing in Armenian media. 
Tamazian said the new unit had seen no evidence of serious 
violations so far, and noted that most of the cases reviewed to this 
point were "too  general" to warrant criminal proceedings.  He told 
assembled journalists he hoped "that reports by our media outlets 
 
YEREVAN 00000106  002.2 OF 006 
 
 
will be more substantive so we can display a more concrete 
approach." 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
ORINATS YERKIR OFFICE IN VANADZOR VANDALIZED 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) On the night of January 24, unidentified vandals broke the 
windows of the opposition Orinats Yerkir (Rule of Law) party 
campaign office in Vanadzor, and destroyed its campaign posters. 
The prosecutor's office launched a criminal investigation into the 
incident. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
LTP SUPPORTERS DETAINED AFTER RALLY SCUFFLE IN TALIN 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶7. (U) Following a January 27 scuffle between LTP supporters and a 
heckler who challenged LPT at a rally he was holding in the town of 
Talin in central Armenia, police arrested four LTP supporters on 
charges of battery.  Shortly thereafter, however, police changed the 
charges to "hooliganism," which carries much stiffer penalties, 
ranging up to five years of imprisonment.  The LTP campaign 
described the incident as a government "provocation," and demanded 
the immediate release of its loyalists.  LTP's campaign manager 
Alexander Arzumanyan alleged that Sargis Karapetyan, the heckler 
whom LTP supporters tried to physically remove from the rally, was a 
known provocateur who was carrying out the authorities' order to 
disturb the rally. 
 
¶8. (SBU) All of those detained were Armenian veterans of the 
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.  On January 30, two parliament deputies 
affiliated with the opposition Heritage party, which is led by the 
American-born ethnic Armenian Raffi Hovannisian, visited the 
detainees but were unsuccessful in obtaining their release.  On 
January 31, three other lawmakers, also war veterans and members of 
pro-government parties, visited Talin for the same purpose.  Two of 
them, Sasun Mikaelian and Hakob Hakobian, are from the ruling 
Republican Party.  Mikaelian and the third parliamentarian, Rustam 
Gasparian, are also leading members of the Yerkrapah Union of 
Karabakh war veterans that challenged President Kocharian's rule 
after the October, 1999 assassinations of eight Armenian leaders in 
parliament.  As of February 8, however, only one out of the four 
detained LTP supporters had been released, reportedly due to the 
intervention of General Manvel Grigoryan, Armenia's deputy Minister 
of Defense and leader of the Yerkrapah Union. 
 
¶9. (U) Referring to the scuffle in Talin, President Kocharian, who 
has been an aggressive supporter of Sargsian in media interviews, 
told the press on February 1 that "everyone must understand that in 
the pre-electoral period the criminal code is not suspended, just 
the opposite."  He added that "During this period law enforcement 
bodies must be stricter in applying sanctions to avoid letting small 
incidents get out of hand.  Law enforcement agencies must 
investigate all violations of order, and inform the public what is 
being done in each case." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
POLICE CLOSE LTP OFFICE IN KAPAN (SOUTHERN ARMENIA) 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶10. (U) According to media reports, on January 28 police in the 
southeastern Armenian town of Kapan used force to close the campaign 
office of former President Levon Ter-Petrossian. The Ter-Petrossian 
campaign had leased the office in late December, but according to 
LTP's Kapan campaign chief, the owner of the office unexpectedly 
decided to end the lease agreement despite being paid two months' 
rent in advance.  According to reports, the owner had been under 
pressure from local authorities and police to take this move.  Over 
15 police officers reportedly used force to remove LTP's supporters 
from the premises, sealed the door and refused to let campaign 
workers remove any equipment or other items from the office.  The 
police apparently did not deny their involvement in the closure, 
issuing a  statement claiming they had intervened in a confrontation 
between the owner and individuals who had occupied his property "by 
fraudulent means." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
LTP CAMPAIGN ALLEGES VIOLATION OF RIGHT TO ASSEMBLY 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶11. (U) LTP'S campaign headquarters in Yerevan reported that the 
Yerevan Mayor's office had denied them the right to free assembly by 
preventing a large-scale rally in Yerevan planned for February 17. 
LTP's headquarters maintain that shortly after 9:00 am on January 
 
YEREVAN 00000106  003.2 OF 006 
 
 
28, its supporters  personally went to the Yerevan Municipality, as 
required by law, to inform the city of their intention to hold a 
rally February 17 in Yerevan's Freedom Square. (NOTE:  February 17 
is the last day of legal campaigning allowed before the election. 
END NOTE.) 
 
¶12. (U) LTP's supporters claim they were the first to apply for the 
venue on that date, but the Municipality rejected their application, 
stating that an application had been received earlier that day by 
the Republican Party to hold a rally on the same day at the same 
venue.  The Municipality also denied their request to hold a 
gathering at a different location, contending that it was not 
suitable to have two events on the same day in two adjacent 
locations.  Nonetheless, according to a press report, the 
Municipality subsequently authorized the People's Party of Tigran 
Karapetyan to hold a rally at this alternative location on February 
¶17. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
POLICE IMPOUND CARS FROM LTP MOTORCADE 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (U) On January 29, following a surprise motorcade tour through 
Yerevan's downtown streets by LTP supporters the day before, police 
impounded five of the cars that had taken part, including those of 
the chairmen of the Hanrapetutyun (Republic) and Armenian National 
Movement parties, Aram Sargsyan and Ararat Zurabyan, who have thrown 
their support behind LTP.  A police statement noted that the 
motorcade had disrupted traffic in the city center, that 
participants in the motorcade had defied orders by road police, and 
that threats of force had been made against the police. It said a 
criminal case had been opened against the offenders on charges of 
"violence against a representative of the authorities," and 
"hooliganism." 
 
¶14. (SBU) President Kocharian emphasized that traffic rules during 
the election campaign have not been suspended, noting that the cars 
following LTP into Yerevan on January 29 posed a danger to other 
drivers.  Kocharian told the press that he personally had witnessed 
what happened at one downtown intersection, as his car had been 
caught in traffic nearby.  Kocharian fumed that "It was impudence, 
and I think such impudence must be prevented by state institutions 
and those who are guilty must be punished accordingly." 
 
----------------------------------------- 
LTP OFFICE IN YEREVAN DISTRICT SET ABLAZE 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶15. (U) According to a report from LTP's main campaign headquarters, 
on the night of January 29 a fire was started by unknown individuals 
at LTP's campaign office in the  Silikyan district located in 
western Yerevan.  The district is home to two polling stations. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
OSCE CRITICIZES IMBALANCED TV COVERAGE OF OPPOSITION 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶16. (U) In its first interim assessment of the pre-election campaign 
issued on January 30, the Election Observation Mission (EOM) of 
OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) 
criticized the "clear imbalance" in coverage of presidential 
candidates by various TV, radio, and print media, including public 
television.  (Note:  Armenian public television is the most 
widely-watched TV channel in the country, with the greatest 
broadcast reach, and is relied on by citizens as one of their 
primary sources of news.  End note.)  The EOM assessed that most of 
the seven TV channels it monitored devoted coverage to Sargsian that 
"exceeded what could be reasonably considered appropriate."  The EOM 
also found that "in contrast to the almost exclusively positive or 
neutral coverage afforded to Sargsian, Levon Ter-Petrossian was 
regularly portrayed in a negative light." 
 
---------------------------------- 
PROSECTOR GENERAL'S OFFICE SHOT AT 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶17. (U) On January 31 the press service of the Office of the 
Prosecutor General reported that an unknown gunman had shot at its 
headquarters in Yerevan during the night.  The press service 
described the incident as an attempt to "destabilize the situation" 
in the country prior to the presidential election.  A spokesperson 
said the single gunshot was fired from a Makarov pistol and 
shattered the window of a third-floor room where Prosecutor General 
Aghvan Hovsepian and his top aides usually hold their meetings.  A 
criminal inquiry has been launched by the agency's Special 
 
YEREVAN 00000106  004.2 OF 006 
 
 
Investigative Unit.  "The Prosecutor-General's Office will continue 
to coordinate the fight against crime within the framework of its 
duties in order to enforce laws and maintain public security," the 
same spokesperson said in a statement.  The incident occurred just 
hours after Prosecutor General Hovsepian's sedan was hit by another 
car as it drove through central Yerevan. A spokesperson said the 
driver of the car that hit Hovsepian's vehicle was detained on the 
spot and found to be drunk. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
LTP OFFICE ATTACKED IN VANADZOR (NORTHERN ARMENIA) 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶18. (U) On the night of January 31 in the northern city of Vanadzor, 
Armenia's third largest population center after Yerevan and Gyumri, 
unidentified assailants threw two Molotov cocktails at the entrance 
to LTP's Vanadzor campaign office.  A fire broke out on the 
adjoining staircase as a result of the explosion.  The night guard 
managed to extinguish the fire and prevent its spread.  On February 
1, the Lori region's prosecutor's office launched a criminal case on 
charges of "willful destruction of property."  Earlier, on the night 
of January 27, signs and posters posted outside LTP's local and 
regional campaign headquarters - located across the street from each 
other - were reportedly destroyed.  The prosecutor's office reported 
it had collected evidence related to these incidents, but it is 
unclear whether a criminal case has been launched. 
 
------------------------------------- 
ALLEGATIONS OF VOTE-RIGGING IN GYUMRI 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶19. (U) On January 31 during a press conference at the Asparez 
Journalists' Club in the northern city of Gyumri, the campaign chair 
of the Orinats Yerkir (Rule of Law) opposition party and member of 
parliament Hovhannes Margarian alleged vote-rigging by the 
authorities (ref A).  He presented a copy of a spreadsheet he 
confidentially acquired from a Gyumri businessman that is allegedly 
 
SIPDIS 
being used by the authorities to obtain voters' passport details and 
voters' pledges to vote for Prime Minister Sargsian.  Margarian 
alleged that the spreadsheet was being distributed by workers of the 
Gyumri tax department to businessmen around the city.  The 
spreadsheet's header bore the letterhead of the Gyumri Department of 
Armenia's State Tax Service. According to Margarian, each 
businessman who is being approached is being ordered to complete and 
return voting details for 20 voters (including their signatures). 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN DISCOURAGES VOTE-SELLING 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶20. (U) During a February 1 press conference, Armen Harutiunian, 
Armenia's human rights defender, or ombudsman, urged Armenian voters 
not to sell their votes during the upcoming presidential election. 
Expressing his office's concern about a practice which he says took 
root in previous elections, Harutiunian said he feared that vote 
buying is "a phenomenon which can abort the establishment of 
democracy in Armenia." He then issued a call to Armenian citizens 
"to be mindful of this and avoid selling their votes."  The 
ombudsman's warnings came amid similar concerns expressed by the 
main opposition candidates contesting the presidency.  As was the 
case in the run-up to the May, 2007 parliamentary elections, there 
have been allegations that government loyalists have visited 
citizens to collect their passport details in a bid to influence 
votes. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
LTP CAMP CRIES FOUL ON FORMATION OF GRIEVANCE BODY 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶21. (U) In a related development, LTP's campaign manager on February 
1 condemned PM Sargsian's December 4 decision to set up a special 
government body tasked with looking into written complaints and 
requests lodged by citizens.  "The working group is part of the 
prime minister's campaign team, and comprises experienced state 
officials," said Aleksandr Arzumanian.  Arzumanian alleged that the 
group's mission is to address voters' grievances in return for their 
pledge to vote for Sarkisian.  He said as many as 10,000 Armenians 
have already applied to the body, asking for financial assistance 
and jobs.  According to Arzumanian, application forms for such 
requests are being distributed to the population by young activists 
of a small pro-government party campaigning for Sargsian's victory 
in the February 19 election. That party, the United National Liberal 
Party (MIAK), is led by an aide to the Prime Minister. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
YEREVAN 00000106  005.2 OF 006 
 
 
REPUBLICAN PARTY OFFICES SHOT AT IN YEREVAN, VILLAGE 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶22. (U) Two Yerevan campaign offices belonging to the ruling 
Republican Party led by Prime Minister Sargsian were shot at in the 
early hours of February 1.  One incident occurred at approximately 
two o'clock in the morning when unidentified assailants shot twice 
at Sargsian's campaign office located in the Nor Nork district, 
breaking the office windows.  The second shooting occurred around 
the same time near Sargsian's campaign office in a different 
district when a gunshot broke the windows of a hair salon located 
above the office.  Criminal cases were launched immediately. 
Another shooting incident occurred January 30 in Sargsian's campaign 
headquarters in Haghtanak village (located within Yerevan's 
municipality).  A person named S. Haroyan entered the campaign 
office, shot at the walls and a TV, and demanded to see the local 
campaign chief.  He left a half hour later and was arrested the 
following day for "hooliganism."  He subsequently admitted his guilt 
and said he had been drunk at the time of the incident. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
BAGHDASSARIAN ALLEGES DEATH THREAT MADE AGAINST HIM 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶23. (U) During his first major rally in Yerevan's Freedom Square on 
February 3, opposition candidate Artur Baghdassarian of the Orinats 
Yerkir (Rule of Law) party claimed to have received a death threat 
from the Armenian authorities (ref A).  Without disclosing the 
source of the threat, Baghdassarian told 10,000-15,000 rally 
supporters that he had received the threat just hours after a 
Saturday, February 2 news conference in which he pointedly declined 
to rule out the possibility of withdrawing his candidacy in favor of 
Ter-Petrossian. 
 
¶24. (U) Despite a statement made February 4 by Prime Minister 
Sargsian in which he dismissed the claim as a campaign ploy, law 
enforcement bodies nonetheless launched an investigation.  According 
to Heghine Bisharian, Baghdassarian's campaign manager, 
Baghdassarian met February 7 at his Yerevan party headquarters with 
the head of the criminal investigations directorate of the police to 
discuss the threat.  Baghdassarian told RFE/RL on February 6 that 
another law enforcement agency, the National Security Service, had 
offered to provide him with bodyguards, and that he had accepted the 
offer. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
ELECTION MONITOR NGO CONCERNED ABOUT VOTER LISTS 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶25. (U) On February 4 the domestic election monitor NGO "It's Your 
Choice," which will carry out the largest local observation mission 
during the presidential election, expressed its concern over the 
state of the preliminary voters' lists, which they claimed revealed 
serious deficiencies.  Hambartsum Harutyunyan, the director of the 
NGO, said there were cases of non-inclusion of male citizens who had 
completed their military service, as well as inclusion on the list 
of deceased voters.  He also noted that some lists appeared to omit 
registered voters occupying entire buildings.  Harutyunyan did not 
provide specific numbers to back up his organization's claims. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
VIOLENCE MARS LTP RALLY IN ARTASHAT (ARARAT REGION) 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶26. (SBU) Violence erupted at a LTP rally held in the city of 
Artashat in the Ararat region on February 6 when  government 
supporters reportedly assaulted LTP loyalists with ice, stones and 
concrete debris.  According to a statement from LTP's campaign 
headquarters, "a group of hooligans" threw the objects not only at 
rally participants, but also at the platform where LTP and his aides 
were standing.  Several newspapers reported that the nephew of 
Deputy Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian, who is also the campaign 
manager for Sargsian, led those who assaulted the LTP supporters. 
The controversial Abrahamian, who also is Armenia's Minister of 
Territorial Governance, is reported to have large-scale business 
holdings in Artashat. 
 
¶27. (U) The papers also report that police officers and Alik 
Sargsian, Ararat's governor, were at the scene but made no visible 
attempt to stop the violence.  Ter-Petrossian's statement also notes 
that the assailants started to throw stones at Ter-Petrossian's car, 
after which seven or eight unidentified individuals attacked the 
deputy head of his presidential security detail.  The security 
officer was then taken to the hospital with a head injury. 
Ter-Petrossian and his aides filed a report with local police, and 
 
YEREVAN 00000106  006.2 OF 006 
 
 
demanded that the perpetrators be identified. 
 
¶28. (U) Pro-government media and law enforcement authorities offered 
a different version of events, however. The police stated that 
Ter-Petrossian himself provoked the violence by making offensive 
remarks about "some officials."  (Note: LTP was repeatedly using the 
deputy prime minister's derogatory nickname, Muk (Mouse), in his 
speeches in Artashat and other Ararat towns and villages. End Note.) 
 Newspapers also report that, according to the Office of the 
Prosecutor General, Artashat's police department received complaints 
from two local women who claimed they were attacked by LTP 
supporters and received bruises.  Police ordered a medical 
examination.  Pro-LTP media said the women were from Serzh 
Sargsian's local campaign headquarters, and that they were paid 
5,000 AMD (approximately USD 18) each to try to disrupt the rally. 
 
 
¶29. (SBU) A statement released by the police said that "Three 
participants in the rally demanded an end to unethical and offensive 
statements, in response to which four or five young men supporting 
the organizers of the event jostled, hit and knocked them to the 
ground, causing physical injuries.  Supporters of the victims 
resorted to retaliatory actions."  The statement also claimed that 
the Artashat police stepped in and "quickly brought the situation 
under control. The identity of the individuals involved in the 
incident has been ascertained and they have been detained."  The 
police have launched a criminal case, on charges of hooliganism, but 
it remains unclear who will be charged.  The OSCE's EOM announced 
after the incident that it will conduct its own investigation of the 
case, and will include its findings in its next interim assessment. 
(COMMENT: PolOffs were touring the region the day of the incident, 
and had met with the governor several hours before it occurred. 
While waiting for their meeting with the governor, one of his aides 
told Poloffs that they anticipated the LTP gathering would be 
"tense" in light of the harsh rhetoric of LTP and his entourage that 
has been increasingly directed against the government.  END 
COMMENT.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
YPC MEDIA MONITORING FINDINGS:  DISTORTED TV COVERAGE 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶30. (SBU) On February 6 the Yerevan Press Club published its interim 
media monitoring report for the period of January 21-30 (the first 
ten days of the presidential election campaign).  According to the 
findings, the media provided considerably more time to opposition 
candidates contesting the presidency than during the first period of 
monitoring (October-December, 2007).  YPC found, however, that in 
spite of the greater quantity of coverage afforded the candidates, 
there existed a drastic contrast in the tone of coverage between the 
two widely acknowledged frontrunners, ex-president Ter-Petrossian 
and Prime Minister Sargsian. Out of the 99 editorial references made 
to Sargsian on the eight TV channels monitored, 93 were positive and 
only six negative, while LTP drew 72 negative references and zero 
positive.  The "TEAM" Research Center, who conducted the media 
monitoring with the YPC, reiterated its concern that media coverage 
of the campaign is centrally orchestrated.  (COMMENT: We believe 
that the improvement in the quantity of media coverage given 
opposition candidates is a direct result of attention devoted to the 
matter by our mission and others in the international community. 
END COMMENT.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
LTP ACTIVISTS BEATEN IN YEREVAN, HOSPITALIZED 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶31. (U) The opposition daily "Aravot" reported February 8 that three 
young LTP activists were attacked and severely beaten while 
distributing DVDs and leaflets containing campaign materials for the 
former president.  The alleged assailants include Melik Gasparian, 
head of PM Sargsian's campaign office in the northern Yerevan 
district of Nor Nork, and three more unidentified individuals.  The 
daily reports that three activists - Hovhannes Grigorian, Gevork 
Zakarian and Aghvan Hakobian - were taken to a hospital after the 
attack, and that the condition of one of them is serious.  The daily 
ran a front-page photo of the activists in the hospital, and 
reported that the attackers confiscated approximately 200 DVDs and 
500 leaflets from the activists.  The incident was reported to the 
police. 
 
PENNINGTON