Pre-Parliament (Armenia)
| Նախախորհրդարան | |
 |
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| Purpose | Political reform |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Yerevan |
| Location |
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Coordinator
|
Garegin Chugaszyan |
| Website | Official Website |
Pre-Parliament (Armenian: Նախախորհրդարան, Nakhakhorhrdaran) is an Armenian civil initiative, formed partly by Sardarapat Movement on November 15, 2012.
Some of its notable members include:
On April 7, police in Yerevan arrested five members of Pre-Parliament: its chairman, Garegin Chugaszyan, founding member Jirair Sefilyan, as well as Varuzhan Avetisyan, Pavel Manukyan, and Gevorg Safaryan. Police searched the men's homes and Pre-Parliament’s office, and seized wooden bats, kitchen knives , a stun gun, and a publicly available Pre-Parliament pamphlet published last year. The police also seized flags of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Pre-Parliament.
On April 9 the Special Investigation Service charged all five men with planning a mass disturbance (art. 225 part 1 of the Criminal Code) and preparation of a crime (Art. 35). Lawyers for the men told Human Rights Watch that the charges stem from Pre-Parliament’s plans to hold a rally in Yerevan on April 24, the day of commemoration of the 100-year anniversary of the Armenian genocide. The group had applied for permission to hold the rally, which the Yerevan authorities approved near the Erebuni Library. Pre-Parliament advertised a rally that would not interfere with events commemorating the anniversary of the genocide. According to the men's lawyers, the charges are also based on the Pre-Parliament’s booklet, which describes the group’s aim of a change of government of Armenia through peaceful means, including civil disobedience.
On April 10, the Kentron Nork-Marash district court in Yerevan approved the investigation’s request for remand detention and sent all five men to pretrial custody. Following the court’s ruling, authorities transferred Sefilyan, Avetisyan, and Manukyan to the Vardashen prison, and Chukaszyan and Safaryan to the Nubarashen prison where they are in custody with the general prison population. Their lawyers have expressed concern about over crowding in some of the cells.
After his April 7 arrest, Pavel Manukyan declared a hunger strike that lasted several days and ended some time before April 13. One of Safaryan’s lawyers reported that he declared a hunger strike on approximately April 20, possibly in response to mistreatment by cellmates. At the time he was in a cell with 17 people and only nine beds. After Safaryan declared a hunger strike, a doctor examined him to assess his general health and he was moved to a cell with other people on hunger strikes. As of April 27 he had not received further visits from any medical personnel.
The Pre-Parliament members are being targeted for their peaceful political beliefs and that the charges are intended to interfere with their right to freedom of thought, expression, and assembly as protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Armenia is a party. Article 225 of Armenia’s Criminal Code, under which the men are charged, prohibits “organizing mass disorder accompanied with violence, pogroms, arson, destruction or damage to property, using fire-arms, explosives or explosive devices, or by armed resistance to the representative of the authorities.” Pre-Parliament’s booklet and advertisement for the rally call for civil disobedience and peaceful political change.
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Wikipedia