HAK Activist Tigran Araqelyan’s Pre-Trial Detention Term Increased

Judge Mkhitar Papoyan of the Armenian Court of General Jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork Marash Administrative Districts of Yerevan on Wednesday extended Armenian National Congress activist Tigran Araqelyan’s pre-trial detention term by two months, reports local opposition daily Haykakan Jamanak (“Armenian Times”).

Araqelyan has been in detention since Aug. 9, the daily continues. The Armenian National Congress late in late August suspended talks with the ruling coalition, stating that the existence of a “political prisoner” impedes the negotiating process.

HAK linked the resumption of that dialogue with Araqelyans release until this month, RFE/RL’s Armenian service reported. Its top leader, Levon Ter-Petrossian, signaled his readiness to drop this precondition as his bloc set up a tent camp in Yerevan’s Liberty Square on Friday in a bid to heighten pressure on the Sargsyan administration. He said the renewed dialogue could run parallel to the nonstop demonstrations.

However, in a statement issued Monday, members of the ruling coalition team rejected HAK’s offer, saying they will wait till the end of this “illegal gathering” (referring to the tent camp) before resuming dialogue as tit would be ineffective to do so while HAK “is engaged in illegal activities.”

HAK leaders responded to the snub on Tuesday by stating that “any dialogue” with the Armenian government is “meaningless,” and they see the resolution of their problems “only through intensifying mass gatherings and mobilization.”