‘I am against’ initiative responds to Prosecutor’s Office statement

“I am against’ civil initiative has responded to the statement that Office of Armenian Prosecutor General issued in connection with the April 9 protest staged by members of the civil initiative.

“Don’t try to use force and threats to restrict our rights to assembly and freedom of expression, which are guaranteed not only by the Constitution of Armenia, but also by well-known international documents ratified by Armenia,” the statement says.

The initiative members note that preventing citizens from holding a peaceful assembly is a criminally punishable act.

“We are sure that there are many cases of flagrant violations in the country that the Office of Prosecutor General should deal with - such as the contents of officials’ property declarations, amassment of millions’ worth of fortunes by ministers’ wives, Armenia’s gas debt of $300 million, the misappropriation of Vorotan Hydropower Cascade and Nairit Plant and so on.

In particular, we call upon the Office of Prosecutor General to investigate the real purposes of illegal collection of funds under the unconstitutional articles of the Law on Accumulative Pensions, the flow of funds and to reveal the real ‘beneficiaries’, and also to investigate the ineffective and inappropriate embezzlement of public funds on the indicated law for ten years,” the statement reads.

We would remind you that earlier today the Office of Armenian Prosecutor General has issued a statement over the April 9 protest staged by ‘I am against’ civil movement, due to which the traffic in downtown Yerevan came to a standstill.

“Blocking a street and obstructing traffic involve criminal and administrative responsibility. In case of repeated actions, sanctions envisaged by the law will be imposed on organizers and participants”, the statement reads. According to it , the Armenian law gives organizers and participants of rallies and protests enough opportunities to exercise their right to assembly without a blatant breach of peace and restriction of constitutional rights of other citizens.