Pashinyan's case was just at the appeals court for the last two days. A1plus, HZH, and other sources have some articles, and RFE/RL has some snippets of the court proceedings. Fortunately, a1plus has also posted a couple of videos, from which I have transcribed/translated a few choice pieces... Why would I do this? Because Pashinyan has a way of distilling reality to fundamental truths and reason, without oversimplifying... and of finding humor in even the gravest injustices...
From a1plus article in English:
"I am charged with the murders that took place on March 1. Everyone knows that Robert Kocharyan gave the command to open fire on March 1. The government needed as much verdicts for March 1 as possible. Serzh Sargsyan didn't collect as much votes during the February 19 elections as the verdicts on March 1 were reached.”
"According to the verdict against me, I am the commander of Commanders Sasun Mikayelyan, Myasnik Malkhasyan and Hakob Hakobyan. That is a great honor for me, but such a formulation is ridiculous."
From the March 5 19:00 RFE/RL broadcast:
"Why are the ten victims included in the judgements against me? If this is part of the judgement against me, then Gor Kloyans father should not be sitting in the back rows of the courtroom, but rather he should be a plaintiff in this case… as well as the families of the other victims…
Why is this in the sentence against me, and in the others being charged as well…
Three of the ten victims were killed as a result of police operations.
Why should I stand here in court today, and read about the death of the ten victims in the sentencing against me, about the victims of Robert Kocharyan and his ruling regime ; why should I read about the victims of Kocharyan’s murdering skinheads in my judgement?
Can anyone answer that question?"
…
"In the name of lawfulness, in the name of constitutional order, for the future of our children…
And in the name of having our children have a homeland where they can all stand equal before the law…
In the name of democracy, freedom of expression, of human rights,
I will struggle until the end, whether I am in freedom, or in prison."
And from the A1 plus video above:
“The police standing there knew why the people were standing there; the police understand that we were struggling for the future of all of our children”
Gor Kloyan's Father Sargis Kloyan, interjects into Pashinyan’s statement when Pashinyan begins to speak of the ruling authorities during March 1:
“The terrorists!… The scavenging animals! The scoundrel! The scum! The bandits! The masters of the crooks! I am the father of Gor Kloyan, victim of March 1… they fired on the people, on our children – the bandits!" At that point, Mr. Kloyan was escorted out of the courtoom...
Pashinyan continues:
"I think nobody can deny, especially the authorities, that during the past ten years, that they [the authorities] have used every means at their disposal to try have me join their, to put it bluntly, plundering brigade... They used every means you could think of… They brought criminal charges against me, they tried to bribe me, they tried to blackmail me; they did everything to try to get me to join their plundering ranks… They are plundering the country with each other, let them plunder… And having been unable to reach their goal, they are coming and accusing me of having broken some glass to steal some dolma…"
There is a lot more, hopefully i'll get a chance to post it soon.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
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