14:28, 2 April 2004

Law-enforcement agencies' inactivity indicates their involvement in attack on Mikael Danielian, his wife says

Chairwoman of PEN Armenian Center Anna Akopian, who is the wife of chairman of the Armenian Helsinki Association Mikael Danielian, told a press conference on March 31 that she and Mikael Danielian himself rated the March 30 attack on the rights activist as a manifestation of state terror against freedom of speech. "We call upon the authorities to give up such methods of putting pressure on freedom of speech," she said.

Asked why she was so sure that official bodies stood behind the beating of her husband, Anna Akopian said the position of law-enforcement agencies gave her a ground to think so. They have not even launched criminal investigation into the attack so far, and a forensic medical expert has not visited Mikael Danielian yet. "For us, the inactivity of law-enforcement agencies is indicating they are involved in the attack on my husband," Anna Akopian said.

Editors note: See also the article "Journalists condemn beating of Armenian rights activis".

Source: Noyan Tapan Information Agency (Armenia)