Sargis Hatspanian Wanted for Questioning

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1. reading_is_dangerous 02.27.08 / 7pm

   arresting everybody just won’t do it. *sigh*

   ===

   4000 books!!! I wish I was invited to take a look!
2. Paul 02.27.08 / 7pm

   Hatsbanian (Chagatsbanian)… wonder if he’s related to my Chagatsbanian relatives. They were from Arapkir (the original, not Nor). Seeing as this guy is a diasporan it’s possible, you don’t see that last name every day.
3. nazarian 02.27.08 / 7pm

   So freedom of speech is interfering with the political life? Since when is it illegal to speak your mind?
4. Onnik 02.27.08 / 8pm

   I guess they mean the prohibition under the Electoral Code for foreign citizens to campaign for and fund candidates, but no specific information has been given and as the election is over it’s arguable whether such a restriction now applies.

   Still, I think the government has the right to expel foreign citizens considered to be working against it from any country.

   Levon did it with foreign citizens who were Dashnaks, for example, although I don’t know what legislation he used for that. Probably there is plenty that prevents foreign citizens from working for the overthrow of the state. Would seem pretty weird if there wasn’t.
5. Onnik 10.10.08 / 9am

   Correction: The electoral code does not prohibit foreign citizens from campaigning for a candidate. It instead prohibits political parties and candidates distributing campaign materials to them. It also only refers to the pre-election campaign and not the post-election period.

   CHAPTER 4PRE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN

   Article 18. Basic Principles of Pre-Election Campaign

   4. Campaigning and disseminating any kind of campaign materials to the followingindividuals or bodies shall be prohibited:

   […]

   4) foreign citizens and organizations;

   […]

   However, the law on the status of foreign citizens in the Republic of Armenia does have some clauses which prohibit certain types of actions:

   THE LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA ON THE STATUS OF FOREIGN CITIZENS IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

   […]

   CHAPTER 3. THE TYPES OF RESIDENT STATUS OF FOREIGN CITIZENS IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA, RULES FOR ITS GRANTING, DUTIES OF FOREIGN CITIZENS

   […]

   Article 25. Rights and Duties of Foreign Citizens in the Republic of Armenia

   A foreign citizen shall have in the Republic of Armenia a right to the freedom of thought, speech, conscience, religion in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Armenia.

   […]

   A foreign citizen in the Republic of Armenia shall not have voting rights, may not join any political organization of the Republic of Armenia, may not be elected or appointed to the posts or carry on the activities, which are reserved for citizens of the Republic of Armenia by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia.

   […]

   A foreign citizen shall not use his rights and freedoms to the detriment of the rights and freedoms of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, other persons, the public order, general welfare, the national security of the Republic of Armenia.

   http://www.legislationline.org/legislation.php?tid=11&lid=3546

   Just to clarify as now it appears as though Hatspanian faces deportation. As I said in a previous comment, such a move could be seen as quite natural given the nature of Ter-Petrossian’s street protests.

   However, there appears to be a lot of procedural mistakes and illegalities in the case of how the authorities are handling this specific case. See:

   http://unzipped.blogspot.com/2008/10/french-armenian-oppositionist-and.html

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