Azerbaijan, Baku, March 16 / Trend E. Tariverdiyeva /
Violations were uncovered during recent rallies in Armenia, Georgi Gogia, a representative of Human Rights Watch, told Trend today.
"Renowned boxer, former Soviet champion and two-time European champion Samson Khachatryan, who participated in the rally on March 1, was arrested. He was arrested on March 13 because he allegedly used violence toward a policeman during the opposition rally," he said.
"Of course, it is doubtful that the arrest was not politically motivated. The arrest of a man two weeks after the meeting raises serious questions for the authorities."
On Tuesday, the Yerevan Kentron and Nork-Marash Court placed a two-month arrest as a preventive measure on the well-known boxer, RIA Novosti reported.
Khachatryan is a member of the opposition Armenian National Congress. It held the rally on March 1 to coincide with the third anniversary of the events in Yerevan on March 1-2, 2008.
Gogia said Human Rights Watch also expresses concern about the arrest of Tigran Postanjyan, the brother of a famous representative of the parliamentary opposition, and Zaruhi Postanjyan, a member of the National Assembly, on Feb. 23.
"He is accused of bribery. But we have no doubt that the arrest was politically motivated," he said.
The Opposition Armenian National Congress, headed by first Armenian President Levon
Ter-Petrosyan, held a rally in Yerevan on March 1 to coincide with the third anniversary of the March 2008 events. Roughly 10 people died during the clashes with security forces.
"Regarding the seven people arrested for taking part in the rally on March 1-2, 2008, we want their amnesty and release because we believe their arrests were politically motivated," he said.
The plenipotentiary representative of the Yerevan mayor proposed that the Armenian National Movement hold meetings on March 30 and 31 on the square near a local institute. Yerevan will likely see a whole series of meetings here by late March, Novosti-Armenia reported.