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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia | |
| Foreigner suspected of setting fire to a Yerevan synagogue | |
| 2023-11-18 | |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. Pogroms in eastern Europe usually take place with the knowledge of the local constabulary and populace. [KavkazUzel] A foreigner who fled the country is suspected of setting fire to a Yerevan synagogue.
As the "Caucasian Knot" wrote, early in the morning of November 15, unknown persons set fire to the synagogue; the video was distributed on social networks. The attempt to set fire to a synagogue in Yerevan is not political, but staged and demonstrative in nature, in order to falsely accuse Armenians of anti-Semitism, says the country's chief rabbi Gershon-Meir Burshtein. He noted that the primary source of the video is the ASALA_Young telegram channel, noting that the use of the name ASALA, which at one time acted against the organizers of the Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. By October 3, the only functioning synagogue in Yerevan, Mordechai HaNavi, was attacked. The organizations ASALA_Young and Young Freedom Fighters of Armenia (YFFA) took responsibility for the desecration of the synagogue. (In the 1980s, ASALA was included in the list of terrorist organizations by the US State Department, but was subsequently removed from it. It was active until the early 1990s, and by the end of the decade it actually ceased to exist as an organization - note from the "Caucasian Knot" ) . The Jewish community of Yerevan called the attack on the Mordechai HaNavi synagogue in early October a provocation, and a short time later asked the special services to strengthen security for the synagogue, however, now in connection with Hamas’ calls for pogroms around the world. Whose interests were pursued by the authors of the anti-Semitic provocation in Armenia and what is the mutual influence of the conflicts in the Middle East and the South Caucasus, is described in the “Caucasian Knot” reference “ Who needs an attack on the synagogue in Yerevan.” Criminal proceedings have been launched into the fact that a foreigner set fire to the doors of a Yerevan synagogue and incited ethnic hatred. Law enforcement officers opened a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 264 of the Criminal Code of Armenia “Damage or destruction of property” (provides for three to six years in prison), the Investigative Committee of Armenia reported today on its official Facebook page*. "Investigators found that the suspect does not live on the territory of Armenia and is not its citizen, and left Armenia after committing the crime. The suspect recorded his actions on video. The investigation found that the suspect posted and distributed the video on Azerbaijani Telegram channels and social network X with aiming to incite racial, ethnic and religious hatred. It was decided to initiate a second proceeding under Article 146 of the Criminal Code of Armenia “Destruction or damage to cultural property with the aim of inciting interethnic, racial and religious hatred” (provides for six to 12 years of imprisonment),” - the message says. Both cases were combined into one proceeding and transferred to the investigative department of the National Security Service for further investigation, Sledkom noted. Armenian Ombudsman Anahit Manasyan called any encroachment on the destruction of places of worship and religious centers unacceptable and reprehensible. “This act should receive an appropriate assessment from law enforcement officers. It is very important to provide guarantees for the protection and safety of representatives of national minorities,” says a message published on the official page of the Ombudsman’s office on Facebook. | |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #1 Armenia's got a pretty clean record. Given the big recent influx of wobbly Russians... Okay, probably not. |
| Posted by: Oscar Grundy3631 2023-11-18 02:32 |