Will the “good” boys swallow it?”

"Imagine a man with chained hands facing a boxer on the ring. He has to fight against injustice in a few precincts at a time.

Then he hears the public applauding to the candidate in freedom. Can you imagine to which extent morality has dropped in Armenia? I am simply giving my assessment. Will the "good" boys swallow it?" said human rights advocate Artur Sakunts when commenting on yesterday's by-election in Yerevan.

The head of the Vanadzor branch of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly (HCA) recorded numerous frauds during the election.

"From the legal point of view the election results were faked. This was a mean election, a real vandalism," noted Mr. Sakunts.

The Assembly demands to nullify the election results at precincts 10/12, 10/15, 10/19 and to call to responsibility Armen Sahakyan and David Simonyan, observers of the Free Society Institute.

Artur Sakunts notes that none of the TV companies covered the election since the authorities feared transparency. The head of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly is displeased with the electorate's passivity.

"The turnout was rather low as people were afraid of expressing their opinion freely," he said.