Nagorno-Karabakh\u2019s leading political groups on Monday accused Armenia\u2019s government of unleashing repressions and discriminating against Karabakh Armenians who took refuge in the country following Azerbaijan\u2019s recapture of the region last September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor quite some time, the Armenian authorities have been targeting various groups of Artsakh citizens and individuals under the guise of democracy, applying repression and discriminatory treatment against them and using the divisive vocabulary of \u2018Armenian vs. Karabakhi,\u2019\u201d read a joint statement issued by four of the five parties represented in Karabakh\u2019s exiled legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They also condemned what they called a smear campaign against the Karabakh Armenians waged by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian\u2019s political allies and other supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The statement was prompted by Friday\u2019s special police raid on Karabakh\u2019s permanent representation in Yerevan during which security forces impounded a car used by Samvel Shahramanian, the exiled president. They broke into the mission\u2019s compound one week after Pashinian accused unnamed Karabakh leaders of encouraging refugees to participate in antigovernment protests in Yerevan and threatened them with serious consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Armenia\u2019s Investigative Committee denied any political motives behind the claims. It said Shahramanian\u2019s limousine was impounded as part of a continuing criminal investigation into his bodyguard and driver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Karabakh factions said the police actions \u201cexposed the fact that the current authorities of Armenia have gone beyond the boundaries of both legal and moral values.\u201d They also denounced the June 12 crackdown on demonstrators demanding Pashinian\u2019s resignation, saying that the authorities are ready to violate the Armenian constitution and use \u201cdisproportionate force\u201d to cling to power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The authorities indicted last month the exiled mayors of Stepanakert and two other Karabakh towns who signaled support for the protest movement led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian. One of them is in jail while the two others are under house arrest on charges of fraud and forgery denied by them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n