Georgian-Armenian political activist Vahagn Chakhalyan, who was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment, faces new charges from Georgian authorities -- the first charge is based on his attempts of interfering with Georgianization of the Armenian church in Javakheti village Samsar in July 2005, the second one is based on the protest manifestation at the Georgian-Armenian border checkpoint “Zhdanovakan-Bavra” in December 2005, according to the ‘Yerkir’ (Country) Union.

Chakhalyan was arrested in July 2008 following a car bomb blast near the home of the chief of police in Akhalkalak, the provincial center of the mostly Armenian-populated region of Samtskhe-Javakheti in southern Georgia.

The Georgian court found Chakhalyan, leader of the ‘United Javakhk Democratic Alliance’ political movement, guilty of several crimes under the Criminal Code of Georgia, including “acquisition and possession of firearms and ammunition”, “organizing a group action which grossly disrupted public order”, and “hooliganism committed against a government representative.”

“It is obvious that the new accusations against the Javakhk Armenian political figure [Chakhalyan] are one of the links of the chain of terror against Javakhk Armenians before the elections to local administration bodies in Georgia in May 30,” says the statement of the ‘Yerkir’ (Country) Union representatives, who have taken up defense of Chakhalyan’s rights.