The ''Mystical'' Parts of the Story of a Young Lady Vs. A Pack of Well-Fed Oligarchs.

On Saturday the Administrative Office of the Erebuni District Police Unit has officially charged SOS Teghut activist Mariam Suxudyan with libel, according to the Article 333 of the Criinal Code of the RA: As a provisional punitive measure, she's not allowed to be leave beyond the territory of Yerevan.

According to the Police Report, in November 2008 Mariam Suxudyan "seeking profits, has provided the mass media with false information on that the now ex-teacher Levon Avagyan of Special Needs Internat School no 11 has committed sexual harrasment against his students".

Mariam Suxudyan has denied all the charges and simply stated that the information she has provided to the media based on one of the students', Diana Amirkhanyan's story. They (Mariam's NGO) has accordingly taped the interview with Diana prior to releasing it to the Media.

However, as Mariam Sukhudyan points out, Diana Amirkhanyan has been subjected to pressure from her family and school to deny her story.

"The last conversation I had with that kid was that she apologized to us, saying that if she goes to the police, she'll lie to them because her mother had beat her after someone with white hair visited them from the school to have a chat with her parents. After that, she'd been forbidden to tell the story anywhere", Sukhudian told to the "Freedom" radio.

What's happenning with Mariam now is related to a news report that was aired in November 2008 on the main news hour on State Television Haylur news program. There were two reports, whereby the students of the school were relating how Levon Avagyan had subjected them to sexual harassment. Following the reports, the District Police of Erebnu started investigations and by February 11 2009, the case was considered accomplished as the police charged a criminal case against the student Diana Amirkhanyan, based on the facts that she has given false information targeting the teacher and that Levon Avagyan has never committed acts of harassment. The police thenconducts further investigation and today changes the subject of the charges by calling Mariam Suxudyan to justice.

Mariam's lawyer Nona Galstyan indicates that the police has failed to show any proof of Mariam's material motivation, seeking profits or proof of motivation for Mariam to spread false information against the school's ex-teacher Levon Avagyan. Nona Galstyan then goes on, pointing several other major loopholes in the police investigation.

"During the investigation the key witnesses have not been questioned, the police hasn't even conducted a cross-examination of Mariam Suxudyan, her team and the students of the school. The main evidence, the recorded conversation between Diana Mnatsakanyan and Mariam Suxudian and her team, has not been given a formal evaluation".

Meruzhan Yengibaryan, the Headmaster of the Special Needs School no 11 refused from giving any comments.

Mariam Suxudian has emphacised that it is ipossible not to see the link between this particular case and her wider environmental activity for saving the Teghut.

"This is not the first time that my fellow team members have been subjected to various forms of pressure...Phone calls, meetings where they try to persuade us to leave our activities. They don't like this. We're only fighting to save our nature, our future, but apparently this goes against certain people's interests", said Mariam.

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At this stage, we're simply trying to keep as many people informed as possible. The track record of removing activists as mere stumbling blocks on their way, proves that the authorities won't give up easily. Bloggers, political activists are being sumonned regularly and being charged with made up cases, false witnesses, incomplete evidence.

We hereby request that you stay alert in case if the story takes a more complicated turn. Let me remind you that Libel as per the RA Criminal Code could place Mariam behind bars for 3-5 years.