"Dro" group not linked with ARF, reiterates Bureau member

The 106th anniversary of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation was celebrated on December 8, 1996, at the Armenian Community Center of Montreal, during which ARF Bureau member Vicken Hovsepian once again unequivocally rejected any and all party ties with the "Dro" group.

Two days before the "Dro" trial verdicts, the Bureau member reiterated the party's position on the matter.

"The trial proceedings clearly showed that individual criminal wrongdoing were attempted to be tied to the ARF, solely for political purposes," stated Hovsepian, adding that "the Armenian people saw that those attempts were futile and that there was no evidence, whatsoever, to legitimize those claims."

The ARF leader stated that the trial deviated from all judicial and human rights norms.

"As we have officially announced immediately following the arrests, and as the ARF 26th World Congress and the subsequent ARF Supreme Assembly of Armenia announced, we also reiterate to the Armenian people that no ARF assembly or executive body has had links with the creation and activities of the `Dro' group. In the event that criminal evidence is presented against individual members, the ARF, as always, will take necessary disciplinary actions against those individuals who have violated the moral and ideological values and principles of our organization," declared Hovsepian.

"Based on the aforementioned provisions, we, once again, announce from this podium that if criminal allegations are tied to the ARF through the verdicts, it would be proven that the trial was staged based on political interests, and aimed at prohibiting the normal operations of the ARF in Armenia," concluded Hovsepian.

Supreme Court: Clandestine "Dro" group had no links to ARF

The long-drawn out trial in Armenia of 11 people accused of terrorism and drug trafficking ended in Yerevan on December 10, 1996, with the verdict absolving the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — a leading opposition party — of any conspiracy and illegal activity.

The court sentenced three defendants to death and eight others to prison terms ranging from 3 to 15 years. But the verdict by the judge and two appointed jury members did not find any link between the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and assasinations or the accusation of forming an underground conspiratorial group.

Nearly two years ago, President Levon Ter-Petrossian announced the arrests of the so-called "Dro" group. He accused the ARF of masterminding a terrorist organization to undermine the state, and banned the activities of the party.

The presidential decree banning the party was followed by a ruling of the Supreme Court, suspending ARF activities for six months, because of violations of the Law on Public and Political Organizations.

The court in the "Dro" case, presided over by Judge Eduard Manoukian, handed down death sentences to defendants Arsen Ardzrouni, Armen Grigorian and Armenak Munjoyan.

The court found that a group involved in banditism engaged in drug trafficking and planned and executed the assassinations known as "Top 1" and "Kerop" operations, resulting in the murders Gagik Sahakian, Ashot Nercissian and his wife.

The court also found that ARF leader and Karabakh liberation movement organizer Hrand Markarian was in no way tied to the "Dro" group, and thus was cleared of those charges. Markarian, however, was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of illegal weapons possession and forged documentation.

Co-defendant Gegham Manoukian was sentenced to three years in jail for witholding information.

Several questions still remain. Markarian was found guilty of using forged documents, the same documents which he used to enter Karabakh which at that time was involved in aself-determination war.

Markarian was also found guilty of illegal arms possession, although a license was granted to him by commander of the Karabakh armed forces Samvel Babayan.

The court found no direct links between Markarian and the so-called "Dro" group, thus absolving any alleged ties between the ARF and the clandestine group, although, according to initial charges the ARF-"Dro" relations were maintained solely through Markarian.

On December 11, Amnesty International said that "The President [or Armenia] has stated that he is personally opposed to the death penalty. We ask him to show this commitment in a more concrete way —by not only refusing to sign execution warrants but also actually commuting all pending death sentences."

Amnesty International called for a thorough and impartial judicial review of the case.

"We are particularly concerned about allegations that several defendants were beaten or ill-treated in order to extract confessions, and that some had difficulties in getting access to a lawyer of their own choice," Amnesty International said.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases, on the grounds that it is a violation of the right to life.

Hovannissian ends hunger strike

Vahan Hovannissian, co-defendant in the so-called "Trial of 31," and member of the ARF Executive Council of Armenia, ended his hunger strike on November 7, following a decision by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Executive Council in Armenia calling on Hovannissian to stop on account of his rapidly declining state of health.

Hovanessian, on the 10th day of his protest, showed signs of serious deteriorations. Hovannissian had refused to take part in the trial, saying that the proceedings were a mockery of justice in the absence of an independent judiciary in Armenia.

ARF member Balayan still in prison

On October 12-13, the last of the imprisoned opposition parliamentarians, Rouben Hakobian of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) and David Vardanian of the National Democratic Union (NDU), were freed from detention, but their travel is restricted to Yerevan and they are still being charged with various crimes. ARF member and former parliamentarian, Kim Balayan, remains imprisoned along with 16 other opposition activists. The preliminary investigation into criminal charges for those arrested has been concluded and the results have been submitted to the Supreme Court. The trials are scheduled to begin at the end of January and all of the defendants have retained attorneys to prepare their defenses.

Criminal charges against Armenian Revolutionary Federation Yerevan Regional Council chairman Kim Balayan will be heard separately. Balayan has been charged with leaving a victim unaided (Article 128 of Armenia's Criminal Code); inciting mass disorder (Article 74); and illegal possession of weapons (Article 232).

According to Balayan's defence counsel Rouben Sahakian, when Balayan was chairman of the Armenian parliamentary commission on judicial matters, he was in direct contact with representatives of various law enforcement agencies. In that capacity, Balayan had demanded the resignation of Chief of Investigations at the Prosecutor-General's office, Souren Geozalian, and the Chief of Investigations at Armenia's Interior Ministry, Mikayel Grigorian, who at that time was a deputy prosecutor. According to Sahakian, Balayan's arrest is the result of those relations.

Kim Balayan, himself an attorney, was brutally beaten and arrested following the September 25 opposition protest rally in Yerevan.

According to his wife, some 25 men in civilian clothing and armed with automatic guns entered their house in the early morning hours and arrested her husband.