YEREVAN, DECEMBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. PACE Monitoring Committee's proposal to deprive Armenia's delegation of the vote, naturally, is not favorable, but such proposals often fail to be fulfilled in PACE. Eduard Sharmazanov, the Spokesperson of the Republican Party of Armenia, expressed such an opinion at the December 22 press conference. According to him, the prospect that Armenia will be finally deprived of the vote is very vague. "If European structures indeed wish to assist us in building democracy, they should not use sanctions," E. Sharmazanov said. Touching upon the issue of releasing the political prisoners, the RPA Spokesperson said that it is no use speaking about amnesty until the trial on the "case of the seven" finishes. "It is a fact that there are problems regarding human rights and democracy in Armenia, but problems emerge in any state after an attempt of a coup," E. Sharmazanov stated. He reminded President Serzh Sargsyan's words that there should not be people persecuted for their political views in Armenia. Meanwhile E. Sharmazanov stated that if the activists imprisoned on the March 1 case are released at present, the authorities cannot have guarantees that the defeated side will not try to achieve a result by inciting clashes in the next elections. Commenting upon RPA Vice-Chairman Galust Sahakian's statement that if Europe pushes away Armenia, the Armenians will start to cooperate with "Muslim structures," E. Sharmazanov said that it is a private opinion. According to him, RPA's official position is that Armenia should continue its European integration way.

---