According to Artur Sakunts, “One Nation” behavior is typical of the early medieval inquisition

“No to Armenian National Movement press”, “No to opposing sects”, “No to Levon-supporting sects” these flyers are posted in the various streets of Yerevan by the “One Nation” political party but this is not something new to the RA citizens.

How normal is this phenomenon in a democratic country (at least by Constitution) which has been a member of the European Council for over 10 years?  Why is it neglected by the RA authorities?  When young representatives of the opposition disseminate flyers to increase public awareness about rallies, they are forcefully taken to police departments, arrested and convicted based on factitious criminal articles.  This has become all too common in our daily life.

Artur Sakunts, head of Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor told www.1in.amthat in 2006, when he was protecting the rights of Jehovah's Witnesses, the representatives of the so called “One Nation” political party sent him an e-mail entitled “Death to Artur Sakunts”. In his opinion, the circulation of such flyers aim to exert pressure and communicate an intolerant attitude towards various religious organizations, as well as journalists and human rights defenders, who support freedom of conscience and constantly struggle against discrimination. Artur Sakunts believes that such actions are targeted at strengthening the monopoly position of the Apostolic Church in Armenian. The human rights activist described the dissemination of flyers as a religious extreme. He believes that the distributors of flyers should be identified and should incur liability. According to the human rights activist, the dissemination of anti-constitutional flyers preaching religious and political intolerance shows that our country is in profound crisis.

He stated that “Religious monopoly is also displayed in politics. In medieval times, the Catholic Church was seeking to establish its sole domination over political, economic and religious spheres and today the Armenian Apostolic Church follows the same path. It is typical behavior of the early medieval inquisition”, claims Sakunts. He is concerned that such phenomena are not adequately dealt with by the authorities. He was alarmed that on April 24, 2010 people participated in a march with torches crying out the motto “Death to Turks”, as the participants of the march were being accompanied by State Highway Police cars.

www.1in.am