Armenian Revolutionary Federation

BEIRUT—The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Lebanon Central Committee on Monday issued an announcement through its press office condemning an attack that took place outside of its center last week on the Executive Director of the Tufenkian Foundaion and an outspoken writer Raffi Doudaklian. Below is the translated text of the statement.

On the evening of Monday, February 26, 2018 in Bourdj Hammoud, unknown assailants attacked Raffi Doudaklian. It is imperative that we make the following clarifications:

a. The attack against Raffi Doudaklian is unacceptable and reprehensible;
b. The incident has not correlation with the ARF;
c. To blame the incident on the ARF is irresponsible and an unacceptable accusation;
d. The chosen timing and venue of the incident near the Shaghzoian Center opens doors to questions and falls squarely under the anti-ARF movement;
e. Immediately after the incident, people in the leadership of the ARF contacted Doudaklian and in condemning the incident have deemed it the act of suspicious individuals;
f. Freedom of speech and conscience have always been and will continue to be principles prioritized by the ARF;
g. The anti-ARF atmosphere created following the incident itself explains the veiled motives that prompted this episode, especially in this stage.

The ARF Lebanon Central Committee, while condemning the incident calls on all to end the slanderous statements about the issue and the accusations of so-called infringements on freedom of expression.