17 February 2009, 22:00
PACE co-rapporteurs call on Armenian authorities not to prevent opposition to rally
Today, John Prescott and George Colombier, co-rapporteurs for Armenia of the PACE's Monitoring Committee, have promulgated a statement calling the authorities of Armenia not to interfere with the rally of the opposition to be held at 3 p.m. at the Matenadaran building in the centre of Yerevan.
"The PACE has repeatedly called the authorities of Armenia to respect the freedom of assembly and to refrain from unreasonable restrictions on peaceful rallies of the opposition," Messrs Prescott and Colombier have stated.
"In our opinion, granting chances to hold peaceful assemblies to all political forces is one of essential attributes of democracy. Therefore, we call the authorities of Armenia to allow this sort of events in the pre-announced locations," they added.
We remind you that on February 9, the Armenian National Congress notified the Yerevan City Mayoralty about a rally appointed on March 1.
On February 12, the Yerevan City Mayoralty made a decision to ban the march and rally along the applied route. In its turn, the Armenian opposition has stated that since the Mayoralty had failed to give an answer within the time as prescribed by the law, the route will not be changed.
Author: Lilit Ovanisyan Source: CK correspondent
