Epress.am News from Armenia
A few days or weeks after Hammarberg’s visit, political prisoners in Armenia will be released, said Armenia’s former foreign minister, Armenian National Congress member Alexander Arzumanyan, speaking to journalists in Yerevan today.
Speaking about Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg’s Jan. 18 visit to Armenia, Arzumanyan noted that Hammarberg is the only CoE official who, after the Feb. 2008 presidential election and the events of March 1, 2008, which left 10 dead and many more wounded, said a political vendetta was being carried out against opposition members in Armenia, as well as visiting political prisoners and asking for their release.
“Hammarberg is the exception in European agencies. We don’t doubt his impartiality, honesty and principled approach,” said Arzumanyan.
According to him, Armenian authorities know that the release of political prisoners is mandatory since the international community no longer tolerates their existence, and the government, in order to save face, released about five political prisoners in the last few months.