Armenia: Boxer Arrest Sign of Police Jitters before March 17 Rally -- Analysts

Armenian opposition supporters with a taste for boxing might see it as a clinch, or an attempt at a Philly shell. Some political analysts in Armenia, meanwhile, believe the arrest of opposition activist and former European boxing champion Samson Khachatrian shortly before a planned March 17 rally is a signal that the government is preparing for a fight.

After more than a three-year lull, Armenia’s fragmented opposition groups are again active. Thousands took to the streets en masse on March 1 for a rally in downtown Yerevan, organized by ex-President Levon Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress. And they intend to rally again on March 17, at which time Ter-Petrosian says he will announce his group’s next steps. To promote the event, opposition supporters have been posting revolutionary slogans on the social networking website Facebook.

The opposition’s protest push has sought to capitalize on the general awareness of the popular uprisings in North Africa against entrenched regimes. In addition, the opposition is trying to take advantage of widespread anger at higher food prices and tensions raised by recent protests of the government’s economic policies.

On March 15, the change in the country’s mood was underscored by the usually reserved opposition leader Raffi Hovhannisian, founder of the tiny Heritage Party, kicking off a hunger strike -- a “Fast for Freedom” -- in Yerevan’s Freedom Square, once a popular site for demonstrations.

Against this backdrop, the government’s decision to mix it up with a celebrated boxer could backfire, some observers believe. In a country known for its reverence of martial arts, the 51-year-old Khachatrian, a five-time Soviet boxing champion and 1985 European boxing champion, has instant name recognition in Armenia.

Khachatrian is also a member of the ANC and he appeared at the March 1 rally. He was arrested near Yerevan’s Dinamo stadium on March 13 and charged with resisting police and causing bodily harm to a police officer during that early March demonstration. The charges carry a potential five-year prison term.

Khachatrian denies the accusations; his family asserts that he was trying to prevent plainclothes police officers from hitting women at the rally. They argue that the arrest was sparked by a March 12 interview with the pro-opposition newspaper Chorord Ishkhanutiun in which the boxer pledged that “we will make a second Tunisia here.”

The interview also touched on a second sore spot for police – the 2008 post-election clash with protesters in Yerevan that left at least 10 people dead. Khachatrian denounced those who shoot fellow citizens as “scum” and “Azeris,” a potent slur within Armenia. “My father was expecting such a move after his last interview, during which he toughly criticized the authorities, and now he is ready for everything,” commented Khachatrian’s son, Sargis Khachatrian.

Representatives of the Armenian National Congress link Khachatrian’s detention directly to an alleged desire by President Serzh Sargsyan’s administration to discourage citizens from attending the opposition rally. Opposition activists predicted “unprecedented” turnout for the March 17 rally, while describing government officials as “terrified.”

“This [Khachatrian’s detention] is a provocation, a persecution for one’s political views,” charged ANC coordinator Levon Zurabian.

“This arrest can be seen as political blackmail,” agreed political analyst Manvel Sarkisian at the Armenian Center for National and International Studies.

Some analysts stressed that the arrest contradicted President Sargsyan’s March 12 televised comments that “the authorities are ready to pay attention to the opposition’s criticism,” and that opposition rallies could be held “within reasonable limits.”

“On the one hand, he speaks mildly, addressing the opposition, and on the other hand, he tries to demonstrate his power,” commented independent political analyst Yervand Bozoian, who described the Armenian president as “trying to maneuver.”

Opposition supporters say the government has employed a variety of measures to intimidate citizens into staying away from the rally. There have been allegations of attacks on opposition activists distributing leaflets promoting the March 17 rally. In addition, pro-opposition newspapers and some online media have carried reports claiming that police and other government representatives met with residents and government employees in different regions of the country to “urge” them to stay away from Yerevan on March 17.

“Our principal got the whole staff together and strictly ordered us not to participate in the opposition rally. Otherwise, we will lose our job,” one suburban Yerevan kindergarten teacher, who requested anonymity, told EurasiaNet.org. “He told us our faces will be recorded by camcorders.”

The Ministry of Education and Science and Sargsyan’s Republican Party of Armenia deny that any state employees have been authorized to deliver such messages. “There has been nothing of the kind,” scoffed Republican Party of Armenia spokesperson Eduard Sharmazanov. “The authorities and Serzh Sargsyan are committed to adopting democratic values in the country and doing their best to improve [the welfare of] the country and the people.”

A March 3 rally scuffle with police between opposition Heritage Party members and opponents of a ban on street trading raises questions, though, about how peacefully any differences over that mission will be resolved. A Radio Azatatyn video posted on YouTube shows that one woman, Heritage Party MP Anahit Bakhshian, was taken to the hospital; another deputy, Zaruhi Postanjian, was allegedly hit by police.

Heritage Party representatives allege that Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian, in a subsequent meeting with the party and police, asked Armenian police chief Alik Sargsian to investigate the incident, RFE/RL reported.