News by Countries

Dark Days in Armenia

07.03.2008

The democracy that Armenians dreamed of during their long decades under Moscow's yoke is slipping away. After opponents challenged last month's flawed presidential election, the government imposed a brutal state of emergency. At least eight people are now dead, independent news outlets throttled and all protests silenced. President Bush and other Western leaders need to make clear to Armenia's government that such behavior is unacceptable and will jeopardize future relations. Compared to post-Soviet tyrannies like Belarus or Uzbekistan, Armenia may not look so bad. That is why it is so important to halt this slide into authoritarianism before it is too late. Official election results handed an overwhelming victory to the ruling party candidate, Serge Sargsyan. International monitors declared that while the overall outcome appeared fair, there were serious problems with the vote count. The protests that followed only turned violent after police began beating demonstrators.

Source: New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/opinion/07fri2.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Back to List