Epress.am News from Armenia
On Jan. 10, 6-year-old Vazgen Asryan was arrested at his primary school in the French city of Langeac, Haute-Loire (upper Loire Valley). This act has shocked the town, reports Paris-Match.
Asryan was taken to the detention center in the city of Nimes, where he joined his father, David Asryan (pictured), who was arrested on Thursday for stealing gasoline, according to Europe 1. The police found he had no papers, and thus no status, and alerted immigration officials.
David Asryan, who is of Armenian origin, originally fled Russia and came to France to avoid “political persecution.” After his application for asylum was denied by French authorities, he was informed he needed to leave France by fall.
In a column published by La Montagne (“The Mountain”), the president of the local football club said, “For more than three years, he has tried to get political refugee status. He participated in the anti-Putin, pro-Kasparov rallies. Police threatened him and seized his papers.”
According to Europe 1, a Nimes judge sentenced father and son to detention for 15 days. The residents of the small French town were shocked. One mother told Europe 1 it was unacceptable “to take a child in a school in our republic,” saying that Vazgen’s father was involved as much as others in the life of the municipality and in its associations.
“For us, he’s a parent like the others,” she said.
On Tuesday afternoon, about 80–90 people — members of associations and unions, parents and elected officials — held a demonstration outside the primary school in the small Haute-Loire village. The pair are currently serving their 15-day detention term.