ARMENIAN OPPOSITION APPEALS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERCESSION.

A large group of wives and mothers of Armenian opposition leaders arrested or wanted by the authorities have issued an appeal to international organizations. It calls for an independent review of the presidential election returns, the release of those arrested, and the reinstatement of civil liberties in Armenia. Attached to the appeal is a partial list of those opposition leaders under arrest or wanted by the authorities. The list contains 38 names, including several presidential candidates in the first round of the election, several of their campaign managers, most of the opposition bloc’s parliamentary deputies, and opposition members of the Central Election Commission. (Noyan-Tapan, September 30 and October 1)

Western diplomats in Yerevan estimate the number of arrests at 250. The arrests came in the wake of an outbreak of violence generated by Armenia’s disputed presidential election. Incumbent president Levon Ter-Petrosian was declared the winner with 52 percent of the vote in the first round amid indications of fraud. The Armenian Communist Party, which also opposes the government but is not a part of the opposition bloc, has withdrawn its eight deputies from parliament in protest against the repression. The parliament is now virtually devoid of any opposition.

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