Jirair Sefilian
Jirair Simoni Sefilian (Armenian: Ժիրայր Սիմոնի Սէֆիլեան (classical), Ժիրայր Սիմոնի Սեֆիլյան (reformed); born July 10, 1967) is a Lebanese-born Armenian military commander and political activist. During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, he commanded the Shushi special military battalion, playing a significant role during the Battle of Shusha. From 1997 to 1998 Sefilian was a Brigade Commander in the Artsakh Defence Army.[2]
He has long campaigned against any territorial concessions to Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh and against Russian influence in Armenia. Sefilian is one of the key figures of the Sasna Tsrer Pan-Armenian Party and the National Democratic Pole.
Sefilian graduated from Kevork Chatalbashian College in Beirut in 1986. During the Lebanese Civil War, he took part in the defense of the Armenian Quarters of Beirut (mainly Bourj Hammoud) from 1983 to 1990.
In 1990, with the purpose of participating in the Karabakh movement he was sent to Armenia by the ARF (Dashnaktsutyun), Sefilian moved to Armenia with his family. As a military instructor, he was involved in the formation of self-defense units in Karabakh and Syunik. In 1991, as a commander of a military detachment, Sefilian took part in the defense of several districts of Nagorno-Karabakh. In 1992 he was chosen by the ARF to be the commander of the Shushi special military company, playing a significant role during the Battle of Shusha. He also participated in other battles, including the Capture of Aghdam, the Battle of Kalbajar, and the Mardakert and Martuni Offensives.[1]
Following the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, Sefilian returned to Lebanon and was unable to return until 1997 due to the ban on the ARF at the time.[2] From 1997 to 1998 he was a Brigade Commander in the Artsakh Defense Army.[2] Sefilian was awarded with the First Degree Order of the Combat Cross (“Martakan Khach”). He holds the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Armenian Army. In 1999 he left the ARF. Since 2001, Sefilian has been coordinating the activities of the public initiative group, "Liberated Territories Defense Committee".
Sefilian and Vartan Malkhasian, the leaders of opposition group called the Alliance of Armenian Volunteers, were arrested in 2006. Human rights observers claimed that the arrest was politically motivated and that authorities used a controversial article of the criminal code to intimidate the opposition.[3] Ombudsman of Armenia Armen Harutyunyan also condemned Sefilian's and his friends' arrest and noted that Sefilian, Vartan Malkhasian, and Vahan Aroyan "didn't break the judicial legislation".[4]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/"No_to_the_criminal_regime's_new_constitution".jpg/440px-"No_to_the_criminal_regime's_new_constitution".jpg)
