Epress.am News from Armenia
Shant Harutyunyan hasn't lost courage; he's just gotten a little thin and lost a bit of color, Harutyunyan's wife, Ruzanna Badalyan, who, along with her son, Shahen, saw her husband for the first time since his arrest on Nov. 5, 2013, informed Epress.am today.
"His condition was normal. We spoke about a lot of things; some things he was familiar with, some, he wasn't. He hasn't seen much of what's been in the press. For a few days now, he's been listening to Azatutyun Radio [RFE/RL’s Armenian service] with the radio we gave him, so he learned a lot of information from us," she said.
She believes that getting Harutyunyan out of complete isolation was the first small victory. "Shant urged [people] to fight; to come out on the street and seize freedom," she said.
Recall, Harutyunyan and five others arrested with him went on hunger strike to demand the ban on family visits be lifted. Harutyunyan stopped his hunger strike on Jan. 10, after being taken to the Hospital for Detainees due to his worsening health.