May 30, 2006

Heritage Headquarters Forcibly Vacated, Sealed:
What Are They Afraid Of?

Yerevan—Today at noon, as Raffi Hovannisian and his colleagues were at work, the Heritage Party’s main office was surrounded and entered by a group of 10 uniformed bailiffs from the Service for Mandatory Execution of Judicial Acts (SMEJA) of the Ministry of Justice.

In an unprecedented and incredible reversal of their execution yesterday of the Court’s April 14 injunction against the defendant theater’s restriction of access to Hovannisian’s premises and property, and without further court order, the ministry officials, led by Vahram Yenokian and joined by Yerevan’s commando-clad “chief evicter” Tigran Tadevosian, forcibly vacated the premises, evicting Hovannisian and his staff from the headquarters which has been theirs for 12 years and which they had succeeded in reentering just yesterday, nearly three months after its initial closure. All office doors, external and internal, were then sealed.

As part of the official report prepared by Yenokian and his underlings, Raffi Hovannisian recorded that “the instant operation by the SMEJA bailiffs, who are supposed to be servants of the law, is illegal, a travesty of civil rights and justice, and a sad reflection of the subservience of the judiciary to the whims, caprices, and personal interests of the executive branch of power, in particular the incumbent presidency. I am being compelled to leave under the threat of force and against my will.”

Upon the formal closing of his office within 24 hours of its hopeful reopening, Hovannisian condemned the petty, parochial fear that drives such acts of lawless retribution across the Republic, and vowed to continue his quest, together with his fellow citizens, to achieve a nation of laws, rights, and dignity.