Armenian-American rock musician Serj Tankian wrote on his Facebook page:
“I met Daniel Ioannisyan a few weeks ago with a group of non-profits and posted a picture of us on Instagram to honor his efforts in journalistic activism. Someone bringing attention to corruption and injustice should be praised not prosecuted. If the school principals involved feel embarrassed at the revelation of their inappropriate actions, they should go after those that put them in that position not a journalist”.
Thus, Tankian has condemned the pro-government directors of 30 schools and kindergartens in Armenia for suing a civic organization that exposed their highly controversial involvement in the ruling HHK party’s parliamentary election campaign.
The directors are seeking a formal apology and a total of 60 million drams ($124,000) in damages from the Union of Informed Citizens (UIC) and its most prominent activist, Daniel Ioannisian. They claim that UIC actions compromised their “honor and dignity.”
UIC activists posed as HHK representatives when they telephoned 136 schools and kindergarten chiefs across Armenia in the run-up to the April 2 elections. The vast majority of them admitted drawing up lists of students’ parents as well as schoolteachers and kindergarten staff who pledged to vote for the HHK.
The UIC said the lists were submitted to local government bodies or HHK campaign offices. It portrayed audio recordings of the phone conversations as further proof that the ruling party is abusing its administrative resources to win the elections.
Tankian met with Ioannisian and other civic activists when he arrived in Armenia late last month to monitor the vote together with several other ethnic Armenian artists from the United States and Canada, wrote Azatutyun.
