 ARF ban lifted by Justice Ministry
ARF Executive Council issues statement
ARF leaders Hovanessian and Markarian released
ARF endorses Kocharian’s presidential candidacy
YEREVAN - The Armenian Justice Ministry on Monday, February 9, 1998, lifted a ban on the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutiune and ordered two of its leaders released from prison, a government spokesman said.
Eduard Markaryan, head of the government’s information department, said the ministry found the opposition party’s structure and statutes no longer violate Armenian law and re-registerd it.
The ARF was banned in 1994 by former President Levon Ter-Petrossian. Party newspapers were closed and its offices were seized. Ter-Petrossian resigned last week. After taking over as Armenia’s acting president Prime Minister Robert Kocharian pledged political reform and free presidential elections were scheduled for March 16.
“Internal political events hastened the process of renewing the party’s activities, which had been set in train last year,” said Justice Minister Marat Aleksanyan.
“Now there are no more judicial obstacles to our party’s activities,” said senior party member Vartan Petrossian. Petrossian stressed that the ban was politically motivated and it took a “political decision” to reverse it.
ARF leaders Vahan Hovanessian and Hrant Markarian, serving jail sentences for anti-government activities, were ordered released. Markarian was released from prison on Monday, February 9, after the Supreme Court overturned his current jail term, and Hovanessian was released the next day.
The ARF was banned in December 1994 on the grounds that it had harbored a clandestine terrorist group and its structure contradicted Armenian law. The ban was reaffirmed in the summer of 1995 when 31 members and supporters of the ARF were arrested on charges of plotting a coup. The ensued two trials, condemned by the opposition and human rights groups as politically motivated, found no link between the party and alleged terrorists and plotters, however.
The party, which has structures in various parts of the world with large Armenian communities, in late 1995 gave its Armenia organization a high degree of autonomy from its central Bureau currently based in the Diaspora. The move was intended to bring its structure into compliance with Armenia’s legislation but was deemed unsatisfactory by Ter-Petrossian. Armenian law on political organizations bars parties from having foreign members and being ruled from abroad.
YEREVAN - The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Executive Council of Armenia issued a statement Friday, February 13, 1998, outlining the party’s position on the recent developments in Armenia following the resignation of Levon Ter-Petrossian, the re-registration of the party in Armenia and the release of ARF leaders Hrand Markarian and Vahan Hovanessian.
Below is the translated text of that announcement::
On February 9, 1998, Armenia’s Justice Ministry allowed the resumption of activities of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, after which ARF leaders Hrand Markarian and Vahan Hovanessian, who were incarcerated for political reasons, were released.
Evidently, the illegal persecution and oppression of the ARF and its members, which began on December 28, 1994, has finally ended. This was an important step toward the establishment of rule of law, democracy and putting an end to the internal political rift in the country.
If the struggle waged by the authorities of Armenia against the republic’s leading political party was a struggle against democracy, diversity, free speech, national ideals, historical memory and the historical cause, then today conditions are ripe for the creation of a state based on national values, freedom, democracy, and one that serves the entire Armenian nation and its aspirations.
The current changes, however, are merely the beginning of an important stage which should progress and develop with the same continuity and vigor, until such a victorious day when a leadership for the people and by the people in Armenia is brought forth.
Since its re-establishment in the homeland, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, staying true to its mission, has fought for the creation of state and political structures which foster national ideals, all in the name of the principle of a leadership emerging from the people’s free will and aiming to provide a free and prosperous life.
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation, having pledged all its resources and willingness to work for the strengthening of the Armenian state and for resolving national issues, will, at the same time, continue to vigorously oppose instances when national and state interests are ignored or threatened.
Vahan Hovanessian, a leader of the ARF was released on February 10 from prison after over two and a half years in detention on coup charges.
The court decision to set Hovannisian free was officially motivated by his poor health but is seen as part of the government’s wider effort to seek a dialogue with the opposition and expedite democratic reform in Armenia.
Hovanessian last December was sentenced to four years in prison for calls to a “violent overthrow” of the government. The state prosecutors had earlier dropped original charges of plotting a coup d’etat on which Hovanessian and 30 other ARF members and supporters had been arrested in the summer of 1995.
Hovanessian’s release came a day after the re-legalization of the ARF following its three-year suspension. Hovanessian, who was cheered by his comrades outside the prison, told reporters it is the ARF that will decide whether he should stand in fresh presidential elections scheduled for March. In 1991, the ARF nominated Hovanessian, born in 1956, for the vice-presidency. In 1993, Hovanessian, who has a university degree in archaeology, was elected one of the Dashaktsutiune leaders.
Earlier, on February 9, another ARF official Hrant Markarian, a citizen of Iran, was released from prison after Armenia’s Supreme Court lowered his five-year prison term to three following an appeal by Armenia’s prosecutor general. Markarian expressed satisfaction with Ter-Petrossian’s peaceful resignation, and noted that he was not concerned with the personality of the next president but rather with his platform.
YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan/Hayots Ashkhar) - Representative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Executive Council of Armenia Vahan Hovanessian met with Acting President and Prime Minister Robert Kocharian Thursday, February 12, 1998.
“I approached Kocharian as a representative of the ARF Executive Council. This was one in the series of meetings he has been holding with the political forces in Armenia. Personally, I was very glad to meet with him. I knew Kocharian from the most difficult years of the Karabakh struggle, and I rate him highly as a fighter,” said Hovanessian.
“I also had the honor of conveying to Kocharian ARF’s decision to support his candidacy in the upcoming presidential elections,” continued Hovanessian.
The two exchanged opinions on the upcoming presidential election and the internal political situation in the country, reiterating the significance of a free and fair election.
On Tuesday February 17, Robert Kocharian met with a dele-gation of leaders of the ARFheaded by Bureau chairman Beno Tontian.
The delegation also included ARF Bureau members Tatoul Oha-nian and Martoun Matevossian; ARF Executive Council of Armenia mem-bers Vahan Hovanessian and Vartan Petrossian; as well as members of ARF central committees and Arme-nian National Committees from throughout the Diaspora who are now in Armenia for observance of the 10th anniversary of the Karabakh libe-ration struggle.
Bureau chairman Tontian in-troduced the members of the delega-tion to Kocharian, and expressed gra-titude that the recent changes in Ar-menia took place within the frame-work of the constitution and in a peaceful manner.
Tontian also informed the act-ing president of the ARF's decision to endorse his candidacy for president, based on his record of pursuing the just aspiration of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. The ARF leader also told Kocharian that aside from endorsing his candidacy in Armenia, the organizational units in the Dias-pora, through ANC offices and chapters, will embark on a campaign to promote Kocharian in political and community circles.
"I am confident that our ranks and our supporters will be very excited to undertake this campaign," stated Tontian. Also addressing the meeting was ARF Executive Council of Arme- nia member Hovanessian, who stated that there was a willingness and readiness to work for the presidential campaign. He added that Kocharian was deemed as a national unity candidate and that he enjoyed wide-spread support from various segments of Armenia's socio-political structures.
Hovanessian was confident that the presidential race would pro-ceed without a hitch, dispelling rumors that forces would interfere in the election process. He stated that the ARF guaranteed that such instances would not take place.
Hovanessian concluded by stressing that the recent changes in Armenia were not mere reshuffling of people, but a change in policy, adding that the ARF will work toward a victory for Kocharian's presidency, with free and fair elections.
In his remarks, the prime minister stated that during the past years there were obstacles placed on the activities of the ARF, adding that "everything was done for the organiza- tion with numerous institutions throu-ghout the world to continue its work."
"As a people with a Diaspora, even if such an organization did not exist, we would aspire to establish it, in order to pragmatically utilize the national force in political, economic, moral and historic realms," said Kocharian.
The acting president stated that while he was not an ARF member nor was he well-read in ARF history, nevertheless he believed that the Armenian people was not limited to the two-and-a-half million living in Armenia, but more than double that throughout the world.
Kocharian said to not use the entire potential of the Armenian nation was absurd.
Back to front page of this issue
| 
