Home / Armenia / Armenian Lawmakers Petition for Jailed Civic Activist’s Release

Armenian Lawmakers Petition for Jailed Civic Activist’s Release

More than two dozen Armenian parliamentarians have started a petition calling for the release of jailed civic activist Vardges Gaspari, RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) reported Thursday.

Lawmakers from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Armenia's ruling Republican Party factions have not joined the petition since they “have yet to assess the situation.” Meanwhile, Prosperous Armenia Party faction member Elinar Vardanyan told Azatutyun.am am that the other MPs did not intend to wait and were going to send the petition to the country's Appeal Court.

Heritage faction member Aleksandr Arzumanyan said he, along with Elinar Vardanyan, has already discussed the issue with the US Ambassador in Armenia, as well as sent an appeal to the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. 

Arzumanyan added that the political persecution against Vardges Gaspari “is a phenomenon reminiscent of the Soviet era.”