Epress.am News from Armenia
Epress.am will not be posting any news items between 3 and 4 pm today as part of a media protest in defense of imprisoned opposition journalist and Haykakan Jamanak (“Armenian Times”) chief editor Nikol Pashinyan.
This protest coincides with the rally near Saryan’s statue organized by Haykakan Jamanak. The local daily calls on all journalists to join them, regardless of their political views.
Note that on Jan. 19, 2010, the Court of General Jurisdiction in Armenia found Nikol Pashinyan guilty in the mass riots of Mar. 1, 2008, following the presidential elections in Yerevan, and sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment.
On Mar. 9, 2010, the Criminal Court of Appeal, by granting Pashinyan amnesty, cut his prison term by half. Both the defense and the prosecutor appealed this decision at the RA Court of Cassation, which revoked the appeals on May 5, 2010.
Pashinyan is currently serving his term at Kosh penitentiary (in Aragatsotn marz or province).
As previously reported, a dispute between Pashinyan and one of his cellmates took place on Nov. 3. According to Pashinyan, after the verbal skirmish the cellmate attacked him, and during the 15 minutes of the scramble no prison security officers approached them. This and many other facts indicate the deliberate nature of the incident, stressed Pashinyan.