Two Additional Letters by Nikol Pashinyan ‘Found’

An additional two letters by imprisoned journalist, chief editor of local daily Haykakan Jamanak (“Armenian Times”) Nikol Pashinyan were registered at the Artik penitentiary division of HayPost (Armenia’s national postal carrier).

“At HayPost yesterday, our correspondent informed us that the previous day, not one, but two letters were submitted to Artik division. Another letter was submitted to Artik penitentiary yesterday. Thus, the found letters became three,” reports Haykakan Jamanak.

Note that in January 2010, the Court of General Jurisdiction found Pashinyan guilty in organizing “mass disturbances” on Mar. 1, 2008, following disputed presidential elections in Armenia, and sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment.

The oppositionist will have to serve only half of his prison sentence because of a general amnesty declared by the authorities in June 2009, which was officially granted by the Criminal Court of Appeals in March 2010. Both he and the opposition bloc the Armenian National Congress consider the case politically motivated.