Levon Zurabyan, a member of the Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), could not address PACE delegates in Strasbourg because of time constraints. However, he attached the text to the official record of the meetings.
In his speech, the senior representative of the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) reminds that PACE has always kept the state of democracy in Armenia in the limelight. The structure has referred to the political crisis in Armenia in its four resolutions. Levon Zurabyan also touched upon the March 2008 post-election clashes which resulted in the death of ten people: hundreds of people were injured and over 150 political activists were taken to custody following the deadly bloodshed.
Further on, the HAK representative depicts the environment in which the government started a dialogue with the opposition. "The dialogue between the sides started on July 18, 2011, when there was hope that Armenia would return to the democratic path of development. But further developments showed that the government tends to apply authoritarian methods, by using violence and violating human rights and freedoms"
for more details, read the Armenian version here
