12 Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January – June 2007 extortion were in fact all close associates of the local mayor. He also claimed that both judiciary and security forces personnel had tried to induce him to withdraw his allegations regarding the July assault against him, and that the local prosecutor had threatened him with a month’s incarceration in a psychiatric hospital. He had also received a number of threatening phone calls during the reporting period. On 6 June the court sentenced Gagik Shamshian to a suspended sentence of two and a half years’ imprisonment with a probationary period of two years. He was further required to pay AMD 200,000 (approximately equivalent to US$590) in damages. The sentence related to the charge of fraud, while the other charges were rejected by the court. Proceedings instituted against Gagik Shamshian’s alleged attackers in 2006 by the Prosecutor’s Office of the Erebuni and Nubarashen suburbs had been dropped in November 2006 due to a reported lack of evidence. Gagik Shamshian challenged this decision in February, but the case was again closed on 5 February. Freedom of assembly restricted During the campaigning period preceding the 12 May parliamentary election, there were widespread and credible reports of administrative obstacles being used to forestall public rallies by opposition groups, such as the artificial booking up of public spaces for other activities and unreasonable delays in granting authorizations to hold demonstrations. On 9 May police reportedly used truncheons and tear gas to disperse several thousand participants at an opposition rally staged by the opposition parties Hanrapetutiun (Republic), Nor Zhamanakner (New Times) and Aylentrank (Alternative). Officials blamed what they called the ‘cynical and disrespectful’ behaviour of the protestors for the rally’s violent dispersal. Amnesty International International scrutiny Armenia in European Court of Human Rights judgments In its first ruling on Armenia, on 11 January the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the 14 May 2002 arrest of plaintiff Armen Mkrtchian, after attending an opposition rally organized by the Hanrapetutiun party was a violation of the right to freedom of assembly. Significant numbers of protesters were detained under similar circumstances in February-March 2003 and April-May 2004. PACE adopts resolutions on Armenia’s compliance with Council of Europe standards and the situation of women in the South Caucasus On 23 January the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted resolution 1532 on the honouring of Armenia’s obligations and commitments as a member state of the Council of Europe. The Resolution welcomed a number of reforms in the Constitution which was amended as a result of the November 2005 referendum. These included the granting of a right of access to the Constitutional Court for ordinary citizens, the Ombudsman (also known as the Human Rights Defender), members of the National Assembly (subject to the support of the application by at least one-fifth of its total membership), local authorities and the courts,. The Resolution also welcomed the strengthening of the Ombudsman’s position represented by the incorporation of principles on the Ombudsman’s selection and tenure into the Constitution, and the end of practices of administrative detention. However, the Resolution also deplored continued allegations of ill-treatment in police custody and extortion perpetrated by police and the National Security Service. It also called for the Armenian authorities to implement their obligation to create a genuinely alternative civilian service for conscientious objectors. Concern was also expressed regarding excessive governmental influence in media regulatory bodies. AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007