US embassy cable - 04YEREVAN901

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000901 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN; DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, AM 
SUBJECT:  APP SPOKESWOMAN DESCRIBES RAID ON PARTY 
OFFICE, 36 HOUR DETENTION 
 
REF: YEREVAN 880 
 
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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2. (SBU) We met with Ruzanna Khachatryan, Spokeswoman 
for the opposition Armenian People's Party (APP) to 
discuss the April 13 police raid on APP Headquarters 
and her 36-hour police detention.  Khachatryan 
described the police raid in detail, and depicted the 
behavior of the police during her detention more as 
"annoying" than abusive.  She believes that the police 
and procurator's office were trying to intimidate her 
and send a message rather than pursue a criminal 
investigation.  End Summary. 
 
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POLICE STORM APP OFFICE 
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3. (SBU) Ruzanna Khachatryan, Spokeswoman and rally 
organizer for the APP, was in the party offices 
preparing a promotional videotape for the party in the 
early morning of April 13.  She told us she received a 
call from a staff member at the National Accord Party 
who told her that police had just broken up the 
opposition demonstration in front of the National 
Assembly, and had surrounded their party offices. 
Recognizing that the police would probably raid their 
headquarters as well, Khachatryan and several other APP 
members locked themselves in Khachatryan's office and 
barricaded the door with a table and some chairs.  The 
police arrived at approximately 2:30 a.m.  Khachatryan 
said she could hear them cursing loudly and breaking 
things in the office.  The police called on those in 
Khachatryan's office to open the door, and that they 
only intended to ask a few questions and not hurt 
anyone.  When Khachatryan refused to open the door, the 
police quickly broke it down. 
 
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ARREST LIST ALLEGED 
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4. (SBU) According to Khachatryan, the police that 
entered the room were both uniformed and plainclothes 
and most carried batons.  In total, she estimated that 
approximately 20 police officers were in the APP 
office.  Khachatryan says she witnessed the police 
singling out males present in the APP headquarters to 
beat with the batons, claiming that Felix Khachatryan, 
the APP member of the Central Election Commission, was 
bleeding from a head wound he received from a 
policeman's baton.  Khachatryan told us that some of 
the police sacked the offices, breaking furniture, and 
taking videotapes and party documents.  Khachatryan 
said that the commander of the central Yerevan police 
station led the operation, and he entered the 
headquarters with a list of names of those to be 
detained.  Khachatryan estimates that the raid took 30 
minutes and that she and other APP members were taken 
into police custody at 3:00 a.m. 
 
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MOVING FROM THE INITIAL INTERROGATION... 
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5. (SBU) The police took Khachatryan to the central 
police precinct.  She said she was immediately taken 
into an interrogation room, where a police investigator 
informed she was being held as a witness in a criminal 
investigation of the opposition Justice Bloc. 
Khachatryan told us that the investigator had a typed 
list of questions that he read:  "Why did you call for 
the violent overthrow of the government?" "Why did you 
participate in an unsanctioned rally?" "Who are the 
chief organizers of the illegal rallies?" "Who printed 
the anti-government leaflets announcing the time and 
location of rallies?"  Khachatryan said she denied any 
illegal activity for five hours as different 
interrogators continuously repeated the questions. 
 
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...TO WITNESS, TO SUSPECT... 
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6. (SBU) At 8:00 a.m. Khachatryan said a policeman 
escorted her to the office of the same police commander 
who led the raid on APP headquarters.  The commander 
told her that she was no longer being held as a 
witness, but was now formally charged with attempting 
to overthrow the constitutional order.  He told her 
that several large file folders on his desk were filled 
with police information on the senior leadership of the 
Justice Bloc; Khachatryan described the whole episode 
as an "act of intimidation."  A procurator arrived and 
also informed her that she had been charged. 
Khachatryan requested a lawyer, and provided the name 
of Tigran Ter-Yesayan, President of the International 
Union of Advocates.  She told us Ter-Yesayan never came 
to the police station.  (Note:  Ter-Yesayan told a 
representative of ABA/CEELI in Armenia that the police 
had contacted him about representing Khachatryan.  He 
went to the central police station and was not allowed 
to see Khachatryan.  He waited two hours before 
leaving.  End Note.)  Khachatryan said she refused to 
answer any questions until she had a lawyer present. 
 
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...AND RELEASE 
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7. (SBU) Khachatryan told us she was transported to a 
pre-detention facility at 7:00 p.m. April 13.  The 
police at the facility gave her a large cell for four 
people to herself.  She was not interrogated again, and 
treated generally well by the police.  Khachatryan said 
she was given plenty of food, coffee and cigarettes. 
She described the whole process as "annoying" but not 
threatening.  At 2:00 p.m. on April 14, a procurator 
arrived and told her she would be released.  He asked 
her to sign a paper acknowledging she understood that 
she was no longer considered a suspect and allowed to 
leave the facility. 
 
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SOME ELEMENTS CONFIRMED 
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8. (SBU) While it is impossible to corroborate 
Khachatryan's overall description of the raid and her 
detention, we can confirm certain elements.  We 
observed the state of the APP headquarters at noon on 
April 13, and the offices had certainly been ransacked 
(reftel).  Kentron television station broadcast images 
of the interior of the APP offices that showed broken 
doors and furniture.   Other APP members have told us 
that Felix Khachatryan was injured in the police raid, 
and several newspapers carried photos of his bloodied 
shirt that had been left at APP headquarters. 
ORDWAY