Man shot Dead in Yerevan - + Innocent Passerby
A really disturbing experience that I have never had. We were driving along the road where Sedrak Zatikian, son of Vahan Zatikian who ran the Malatia Sebastia district until he died, was shot. The whole road was a mess, cars were everywhere, the police were shouting at us to turn around.
What is most upsetting is the innocent mother of 3 who was killed by a stray bullet whilst walking past. I really hope something can be done to help her family. It could have been anyone.
Welcome to Armenia….
Comment by PAtrik — 6/27/2006 @ 6:39 pm
Now - don’t you start again PAtrik!!! I don’t want to indulge in comparisons with other countries, among which are the ever wished destinations for local Armenians, like Russia (4 people killed this year just for being Armenian) and USA (God’s unhappy experiment of bringing all the lost soals and all worlds evil into one place and trying to build the Promised Land with them).
Armenia is about as safe a country as it gets. I have goosebumps everytime I think of walking in Tbilisi, Georgia after 11PM!!!
PS2: Whoever deletes this comment of mine please note - I mean it brother!!! I really love you
Comment by Angry Root — 6/29/2006 @ 8:04 pm
This kind of things happens often in US and Canada, so welcome to westernized world!
Comment by Ruzanna — 7/2/2006 @ 4:32 pm
For those of you who say that this happens everywhere in the western world, yes, it does, EXCEPT I can’t remember shootouts happening between the families of government officials, MPs and government connected individuals anywhere other than in very corrupt former Soviet republics and similar regions.
http://aramanoogian.blogspot.com/2006/07/one-arrested-for-murder-of-son-of.html
Criminal elements are the part of every State in the World, but in the CIS they ARE the State. I recommend you all read Vahan Ishkanyan’s article on how Yerevan has been divided up between feuding clans if you really want to understand how the country is run.
http://www.armenianow.com/?action=viewArticle&IID=1071&AID=1390&lng=eng
Comment by Onnik Krikorian — 7/3/2006 @ 6:37 pm
The thing that saddens one is that the Armenians( Hayastanchi) have done a better job then the Turks ever dreamed of. The Turks have killed 1,5 million Armenians. The Armenian government have forced 3 million of its own citizen to leave the country ? The Armenian government doesn’t have the respect by any foran country except Russia and Iran that’s a great cache? One being a Islamite country and the other well ! We been their slaves during the communist time and what did we get from that , well lost more territories. You see some shanty new construction built by the oligard Russian masters ….. and wee should be grateful. Their is no better place then Armenian for how, if you what to visit prostitutes and go to churches ? Working as a professor at the university , having to sustain your life by degrading yourself by expecting to take money from the students to pass them one. The Armenian mothers that don’t know what happened to their doters , that work as prostitutes’ in Dubai?
Their is no better place then Armenia ? Are you drunk or taking some hashish from the Iranians that are coming to Yerevan… or I know some high quality Iranian opium , that’s god bought out from the Russians and drug down by muslim Iranians ?
Comment by PAtrik — 7/3/2006 @ 8:06 pm
I’m pretty sure that once Armenian government starts kissing up to Soros (u know what I mean!) all you people will be happy campers and brush everything under the carpet, as it’s happening in Georgia and Azerbaijan. As your beloved Katy use to brag how Azerbaijan was nice and everything’s going smoothly there, no corruption? No shooting? No gangsters?
Why all the hypocrisy?
Comment by Ruzanna — 7/29/2006 @ 2:59 am
You can munch on these for a start
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/4371159.stm
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0726serialshooter0726.html
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Opinion/Editorials/2006/07/21/1695061.html
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060719/gun_registry_060719/20060719?hub=Canada
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2006/07/21/1696513.html
If you want more just let me know
Comment by Ruzanna — 7/29/2006 @ 3:22 am
PATric,
have you ever lived in some other place than Armenia to judge? I live in this sheety place called greater Washington, DC. Try just walk somewhere in ne, sw, se at anytime or nw after 10 pm, the situation so bad that dc government put curvew for those under 21. On every corner of every street in dc are homeless people begging for money to survive.
Rightless man refuse to marry and have children because woman at any time can take your kid accuse in cruelty and divorce you. Their words are taken for granted by mommies court. They will strip you from your property in instance and make you pay enormous child and spousal support just because you were trying to work hard on several jobs to meet ends while your wife was f….g around. If you loose your job you still have to pay, b/c you have “ability to get job” and system doesn’t care if you actually have not been able to find a job. If you don’t have money they will put you in a jail for contempt of court.
Armenia is the best place in the world! Land of freedom! Where some family values still continue to exist, and where interference of government in your family issues are minimal.
Comment by Firefly — 7/31/2006 @ 11:03 pm
This is a second time that my post was deleted. How about freedom of speech? Why we can’t say anything to defend our own country?
What was wrong in saying that Armenia is a Land of Freedom compare to the US? What was wrong in saying that the US is fowanized society where man reduced to submission? Or you just don’t have arguments?
Comment by firefly — 8/1/2006 @ 10:04 pm
firefly,
Your parallel between Armenia and the US is like comparing apples to oranges. To be sure, the US does have a host of *very* serious social problems. However, before you proclaim that Armenia is a Land of Freedom and Washington DC is a shitty place to live, I would suggest you carefully read The Bill of Rights and tell us whether every Armenian living in Armenia is afforded even half of those rights. I would particularly focus on the First, Fifth and Sixth Amendmens.I am pretty sure that in the US, every homeless person who doesn’t even have pot to piss in, still enjoys those rights.
While you think about that, think about the people that were evicted from their real estate in downtown Yerevan with little or no compensation and have no recourse, think of the journalists who are periodically beaten and arrested by the police for their professional activities, think of people in pretrial detention who are denied counsel and basic human rights and are detained for as long as the police see fit, think of the guy who got beaten to death in a bathroom by the Armenian secret service for a comment he made, think of the 100-200 conscripts that die of non-combat causes every year while performing the compulsory military service. Those are but a few things that I think about when I try to assess how free Armenia really is. After all, Freedom doesn’t just mean being able to go to Armenia with a US passport once a year to have a good time. There is a lot more to it, my friend.
Comment by Tumanian, H — 8/19/2006 @ 2:39 am
Tumanyan,
I don’t have a US passport. I am Armenian citizen. I lived in Armenia 30 years and I live in DC 5 years so I am in good position to compare.
First amendment, freedom of speech. Tell that to NY guy, who is going to receive 20 years in prison for retranslating Al Manar in NY city. I beleive this guy would rather get bitting from Armenian police than spend next 20 years in federal prison. Or how many years would Judy Millier spent in jail if she didn’t disclose the source of her Article re: Valerie Palms.
Fifth amendment, right against self incrimination
Sixth, jury trial. As someone, who somewhat close to the US legal industry I could tell you that those are means nothing if you cannot afford a good lawyer not a public appointed defender. Only few could afford a good lawyer. So, what about hundreds, who were convicted and spent 10,15 or 20 years in jail and now released after DNA analisis showed that they did not commit crime. Haven’t they had those rights and still get convicted.
Police brutality. Talk about that with the homeless “brother” on the corner, he will tell you everything about fifth and sixth. Or just fresh example with my co-worker, a lawyer, whose car were pulled over in DC, and she had to spent 6 hours at the polce station for alleged traffic violation. She didn’t get a lawyer. In Armenia, you would probably end up paying 1000 dram to the cop. So, it is just matter of choice.
Comment by firefly — 9/4/2006 @ 10:01 pm
As they say, better late, than never.
So, firefly, you are again comparing apples to oranges.
I am not familiar with the particular incident with re-broadcasting Al Manar in NY, however that’s a isolated incident. Moreover, the US government has branded Hezbollah a terrorist organization, and it is in line with this decision (which, mind you, the majority of the people in the US support) that one is not allowed to broadcast Hezbollah propaganda. I am neither agreeing or disagreeing with this decision. All I am saying is that people support that decision and if you want to broadcast Hezbollah propaganda, this is not the country for it.
In Armenia any television outlet that does not cater to the establishment is banned from operating. A1 is the perfect example. Not only was their broadcasting license suspended, but they were evicted from their premises without just compensation, and are unable to find comparable offices because anyone who dares to lease space to them will face government reprisal.
I hope you see the difference.
Judy Miller and Valerie Plame: the reason that Judy Miller was forced to disclose her source was that it was a matter of national security. This administration leaked Valerie Plame’s name to punish her husband for claiming that Saddam Hussein was not trying to get nuclear materials in Africa and that there were no WMD in Iraq. By doing so they compromised a lot of contacts that Valerie Plame had all over the world and effectively damaged this country’s intelligence. Needless to say, what they did was illegal. For that, Dick Chaney’s Chief of Stuff, Lewis Libby is being tried in a court of law right now and I hope he serves a lengthy jail term along with some of the other masterminds.
Now let’s look at Armenia. A journalist, Grigor Shamshian, was recently beaten up in broad daylight by Nubarashen’s chief for publishing an article criticizing the local authorities. So as a decent citizen he complained to the police. The police detained the chief, but later released him. Afterwards they detained the journalist and forced him to recant his complaint. Moreover, they charged him with everything from extortion to domestic disturbance to possessing false passports, etc. They kicked him out of his apartment, seized his computer and issued an arrest warrant. He is currently on the run.
Do you see the difference?
As far as people getting wrongfully convicted, well there is racism in this country and some prosecutors were hell bent on convicting based on eye witness testimony. And, yes, unless you get a good defense attorney, you may be at a disadvantage in this country.
In Armenia, it does NOT matter how skilled and knowledgeable your defense attorney is. You are *always* at a disadvantage. If they want to convict you, they will convict you. They can keep you in pretrial detention for as long as they wish without charging you. Denying access to your lawyer, torture, threats against your family - all piece of cake. Again, apples and oranges.
Oh the 1000 dram bribe … Let me tell you my friend. I would rather sit in a police station for 6 hours in DC than to pay some a**hole a 1000 drams, just because he felt like stopping me. I am sure your colleague had the option of complaining to the police chief or the commissioner for her wait. Try that in Armenia! For one, I have never been stopped for no reason in my many years of driving. And even when I do get stopped, I am treated like a human being. Armenia - a whole another ballgame.
And one more thing. One of the major reasons that Armenia is in its current condition is that the majority of people in Armenia choose to pay - whether it’s a traffic bribe or any other bribe. Wrong choice.
Comment by Tumanyan, H — 2/5/2007 @ 11:04 am