WILL ‘SASNA DZRER’ RECEIVE THE VINDICATION THEY DESERVE?

By Lucine Kasbarian

Recently, Armenians, particularly those in the Diaspora, hotly debated the question of whether Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan should or should not have spoken through a translator, walked off the set, or refused the invitation altogether when facing putative judge, jury and executioner-posing-as-journalist Steven Sakur on BBC’s HARDtalk on August 14.

Ironically, noticeably fewer Diaspora Armenians discussed, much less protested, a simultaneous and very real court case occurring in Armenia: the Armenian Prosecutor General’s perverse request that contemporary Armenian national heroes, known as the Daredevils of Sassoun, face long prison sentences.

Our modern Daredevils of Sassoun (known in the Armenian vernacular as “Sasna Dzrer”) are named after the supermen of Armenia who populate the eponymous Armenian national epic that was inscribed in 2012 on the Representative List of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.  

These individuals of today, including Pavel Manukian, the late Arayik Khandoyan (aka the Lone Wolf), and Varuzhan Avetisyan, among many others identified at the end of this article*, are true sons of the Armenian nation. Many are veterans who distinguished themselves in the self-defense of Artsakh. Together they formed an armed opposition group to liberate the Armenian people from the yoke of the criminal Serzh Sargsyan regime.

Sasna Dzrer were formally charged with the illegal seizure of government buildings, capture of weapons and hostage-taking as part of a larger plan to “to overthrow the ruling Armenian regime.” In the aftermath of the Velvet Revolution, Sasna Dzrer members held in police custody since 2016 were released on bail pending their sentencing, and heard recommended sentences last week.

Artur Davtyan, Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia, demanded a life sentence for Smbat Barseghyan, accused of killing two police officers during the group’s takeover of the Erebuni police station in 2016, a charge which Barseghyan denies and calls a false flag.  (Lieutenant Yuri Tepanosyan, Colonel Arthur Vanoyan and senior non-commissioned officer Gagik Mkrtchyan were killed during the siege. While Sasna Dzrer admits to the accidental shooting of Vanoyan, the murders of Tepanosyan and Mkrtchyan are shrouded in mystery.)

Prosecutor Davtyan also demanded heavy sentences for the other defendants: Armen Bilyan (21 years), Pavel Manukyan and Sedrak Nazaryan (9 years), Mkhitar Avetisyan and Varuzhan Avetisyan (8 years and 9 months), Edward Grigoryan, Gagik Yeghiazaryan and Areg Kyureghyan (8 years and 6 months). The case against Arayik Khandoyan — savagely and repeatedly beaten by police while in custody and who died as a result during the long trials — was dropped.

Public activist Zaruhi Postanjyan, parliamentarian and leader of Armenia’s Yerkir Tsirani political party, has been one of the defense attorneys for Sasna Dzrer, advocating for all charges to be dropped against the defendants.

It would be impossible to recreate all the activities of Jirair Sefilian and Sasna Dzrer for the uninformed in a relatively brief article such as this one. To summarize, these activists sought to expose the criminal activities of then-President Sargsyan and his Republican Party of Armenia; the rumored plan to surrender Artsakh to Azerbaijan, and government corruption resulting in the relinquishingof 800 hectares of Armenian land to Azerbaijan during the April 2016 war, all whose activities culminated in what is today known as the “2016 Yerevan hostage crisis.”

In July 2016, members of the group stormed Yerevan’s Erebuni police station and took nine hostages. The selection of this compound was strategic, as this precinct houses a large cache of weapons. The group demanded the release of opposition leader Jrair Sefilian, who had been imprisoned on trumped up charges of weapons possession, and the resignation of then Armenian President Sargsyan. The group began a standoff with government forces, and had the support of ever-growing crowds joining the calls for the resignation of the President.

Following blockades by police and the subsequent scarcity of food and supplies, the group gradually released hostages and surrendered to law enforcement authorities on July 31, 2016 under the condition that they would not be prosecuted — a promise which, upon their capture, was rescinded by the authorities.

According to Sasna Dzrer, their decision to take over the Erebuni police precinct was intended to motivate the people of Armenia to rise against the mafias and parasites who were poisoning the Armenian nation. Some detractors (many who have their own interests to protect) allege that Sasna Dzrer are terrorists or agents of foreign powers seeking to destabilize the state, using armed struggle for nefarious ends. Aghvan Vardanyan of the ARF Supreme Body of Armenia said, “These people chose the most reprehensible way to make much needed change in this country a reality.”

It seems we have forgotten that 120 years before Sasna Dzrer’s takeover, armed ARF activists took over the Ottoman Bank in Constantinople. The Ottoman Bank action was and is still seen as a desperate but necessary deed to bring global attention to the plight of oppressed Armenians by an inhumane government. The only difference between that episode and the Sasna Dzrer takeover that I can discern is that the former action confronted a brutal Turkish regime while the latter action confronted a brutal Armenian one.  

Instead of punishing ‘Sasna Dzrer’ — the salt of the earth of Armenia who have already served many years in police custody — we should bring before the courts the villains who have abused their powers in some of the highest positions of the land. So far, efforts to do so by the Pashinyan regime have been ‘show’ trials, at best, and vendettas at worst.

Sasna Dzrer received no recompense for their service to the Motherland other than the privilege of restoring Armenia’s dignity. By contrast, egomaniacs in positions of authority in Armenia reward themselves with stolen national wealth for imaginary heroic deeds.

Let us be honest about how true heroes are being treated by the Armenian authorities. And in contrast, let us observe how sociopaths are being lauded as national heroes by brutal regimes in Armenia’s neighborhood.

Sasna Dzrer have been willing to sacrifice their lives to defend their country. And they would do so again in spite of the political maneuverings that have put them behind bars. If there is another attack on Armenia or Artsakh, these are the individuals upon whom Armenia could rely to fight to the last breath to preserve our nation and values. And yet, Armenia is running the risk of neutering them.

If Covid-19 policies combined with RA dogmas prevent Armenian nationals living abroad and members of the traditional Diaspora from participating in national defense, and once what fighting power that is left in Armenia is spent, when the attacks occur and we cannot repel them, every one of us will have to answer to ourselves, our compatriots, our ancestors, and God.

By comparison, it is easy to point fingers at the ruthless attacks on and betrayals of Armenia by outsiders. However, we cannot any longer remain silent about fellow Armenians who destroy our best from within. Every loss Armenians have sustained throughout history contains this harsh truth. The mark of a weak people is when they attack their own to conquer real or imagined internal territory, being too cowardly to take on the real enemies.

We cannot allow our leading elites in Armenia and Diaspora, many who have their own business interests in Armenia, to assure us that Armenia is a young democracy that just needs time to adjust. Twenty eight years of enduring the repeated rape of Armenia has already been too much to bear. 

One of the stated strategic goals of the ‘Sasna Dzrer’ political party (established in 2018) is “to unite Armenians in Armenia and abroad, ensure the sustainability of the Armenian nation and its global influence.” (http://sasnatzrer.am/en/declaration/)  

This credo holds a great value that remains unappreciated by previous and current Armenian regimes.  

In the opinion of this writer, the Sasna Dzrer saga has received limited attention from the traditional Diaspora in part because the coverage has mostly been in the Armenian language – inaccessible to some Diasporans; because many in Diaspora leadership feel that Armenian government malfeasance and internal battles are to be swept under the rug as they put Armenians in a negative light in foreign eyes; because some have been persuaded to believe that Sasna Dzrer are impressionable individuals manipulated by the West; and because the Diaspora political parties and their media outlets decided to downplay this story out of deference to their own political agenda.

The armed actions of Sasna Dzrer was one of the great catalysts that brought about the 2018 Velvet Revolution. In fact, Nikol Pashinyan the opposition activist was at the forefront of those rallies in support of the group — during their police compound seizure and following their arrests. He videotaped Sasna Dzrer member Pavel Manukyan during the takeover and was given a tour of the police station where viewers could observe their humane treatment of hostages. 

The very same Nikol Pashinyan is Armenia’s Prime Minister today but has not, as of this writing, ventured to comment on this vital issue. Nor has he asserted himself on the Judiciary branch, the latter which would be considered overreach. Armenia’s Prosecutor General, Artur Davtyan, has been holding this office since June 2016, installed by the decree of now former President Serzh Sargsyan.   It is natural to ask ourselves: “Who benefits from seeing Sasna Dzrer deteriorate in prison?”   It is time to be realistic about what the transfer of power from Sargsyan to Pashinyan has meant for the Armenian nation. Was 2018 really a revolution, peaceful or otherwise, for us to tout the so-called benefits of bloodless regime change? Is vigilantism only permissible after a country has collapsed?

Now is the time, before the verdict is given, for every Armenian of conscience to contact the Judiciary branch, Prime Minister Pashinyan and President Armen Sarkissian to express his/her disapproval and demand the release and exoneration of Sasna Dzrer. And relieve the Prosecutor General — a remnant from the previous criminal regime —  of his duties. If the authorities are not responsive to the will of the people, their apathy should tell us what we need to know about this regime, never mind the last one.

Public figures who call themselves “thought leaders” often tout the significance of thinking outside the box. That is just what Sasna Dzrer did when they recalled the opening sentence of the Armenian patriotic song, Sardarabad.  “Yerp chi mnum yelk u jar, khentern en kdnum hnar.” 
(<Երբ չի մնում ելք ու ճար Խենթերն են գտնում հնար:>

(“When there seems to be no way out, fools find a way.”)

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*Among the many who contributed to the Sasna Dzrer movement are Jirair Sefilian, Ararat Khandoyan, Garegin Chugaszyan, Alec Yenikomshian, Gevorg Safaryan, Vahagn Avagyan, Armen Bilyan, Arek Kyureghyan, Armen Lambaryan, Arthur Melkonyan, Tigran Sargsyan, Arthur Soghomonyan, Garnik Hovakimyan, Hovhannes Vardanyan, Vardges Gevorgyan, Manvel Atoyan, Ashot Petrosyan, Edward Grigoryan, Gagik Yeghiazaryan, Garo Yeghnukian, Khachatur Gichyan, and “the bread bringer,” Arthur Sargsyan, who died during the Sasna Dzrer ordeals.

This article is dedicated to Mrs. Rima Khandoyan who raised champions of Armenian freedom.