Epress.am News from Armenia
The release of Armenian political prisoner Ashot Manukyan (pictured) was not coincidental, since the possibility of his release was raised at the Council of Europe Forum for the Future of Democracy held in Yerevan from Oct. 19–21.
Such an opinion was expressed by Armenia’s former foreign minister, Alexander Arzumanyan, upon the request of Epress.am to comment on Manukyan’s release.
Arzumanyan said that the international community issues firm statements for action, while the Armenian public continues to be unable to tolerate the existence of political prisoners, and for this reason, the authorities will try any means to release political prisoners.
“I’m quite happy that Ashot [Manukyan] returned to his family. And I hope that his release is only the beginning,” said Arzumanyan.
[Editor’s note: correction made at 4:05 pm on Nov. 3: Alexander Arzumanyan “himself a political prisoner” text removed as Arzumanyan was released in 2009.]