Epress.am News from Armenia
From a legal perspective, no such terms exist in Armenia, they existed during the Soviet era, said RA Minister of Justice Hrair Tovmasyan, when asked by a journalist at a press conference in Yerevan today whether there are political prisoners in Armenia. Epress.am then asked the minister to confirm whether there are individuals in Armenia who have been imprisoned for their political views.
“No,” said Tovmasyan.
To a comment by a Epress.am journalist that, according to international agencies, there are such individuals in Armenia, the justice minister said, “You’re right, there are reactions by political organizations, but there has been no such response from legal bodies.”
Recall that Article 4 of the 2008 PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) Resolution 1609 reads: “The Assembly [PACE] condemns the arrest and continuing detention of scores of persons, including more than 100 opposition supporters and three members of parliament, some of them on seemingly artificial and politically motivated charges. This constitutes a de facto crackdown on the opposition by the authorities.”
Further, in the same resolution, PACE notes, “the persons detained on seemingly artificial and politically motivated charges or who did not personally commit any violent acts or serious offences in connection with them should be released as a matter of urgency.”
In today’s press conference, journalists asked the justice minister, “What do you think, is Nikol Pashinyan a criminal?” To which Tovmasyan responded, “What, you want me to dispute the ruling by the Court of Appeals?”
According to the minister, there is also the European Court and we must wait for that court’s ruling.