A court in the central Armenian town of Hrazdan on Tuesday fined a government supporter 80,000 drams ($170) for attacking and seriously injuring a senior member of the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK).
Ashot Piliposian, who heads the HAK chapter in Hrazdan and the surrounding area, was beaten up near his home in December in what was the latest in a series of violent attacks on opposition politicians and activists actively involved in anti-government rallies. He was taken to hospital with broken bones and a concussion.
Just hours after the incident, the local police briefly detained two men who claimed to have attacked Piliposian for “personal” reasons. One of them, Pargev Manukian, was prosecuted on charges not involving any political motives.
The police claimed that Manukian attacked the oppositionist because the latter insulted one of his relatives in a phone conversation. The Hrazdan court found this explanation credible, punishing the defendant with the small fine.
Piliposian boycotted the final court session in the trial in anticipation of what he considers a “ridiculous” verdict. He stood by his view that he was attacked for urging local residents to take part in last fall’s opposition rallies in Yerevan.
“The judicial process was turned into a buffoonery,” Piliposian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “That is why my disdain for the judicial process was justified.”
The Hrazdan incident occurred the day after another senior HAK figure, Aram Manukian, was beaten up outside his Yerevan apartment. Three other activists involved in street protests organized by the HAK and its opposition allies were assaulted earlier in December.
Two of them were assaulted outside a Yerevan restaurant shortly after dining there with Levon Yeranosian, a deputy chief of the Armenian police. Yeranosian did not explicitly deny ordering the attack. He said that he will “cut off the ears” of anyone daring to lambaste President Sarkisian.
The spate of attacks prompted HAK leaders to hold urgent meetings with the U.S., British and German ambassadors to Armenia. The opposition party led by former President Levon Ter-Petrosian accused the Armenian authorities of orchestrating the violence to bully the opposition. Representatives of Sarkisian’s Republican Party denied those allegations.