Epress.am News from Armenia
Artur Papikyan, an inmate at Goris Penitentiary who on Feb. 13 sewed his mouth shut and declared a hunger strike, has ended his hunger strike and removed the stitches on his mouth. This news was conveyed to Epress.am by Papikyan's representative, Helsinki Association for Human Rights attorney Gayane Khachatryan.
The attorney stressed that after Epress.am published the article "Prisoner Sews Mouth Because of Extortion" (AM, RU), the Armenian Ombudsman's office contacted Goris Penitentiary to discuss the matter. After the call, the chief of Goris Penitentiary, in turn, spoke with Papikyan, who heeded his call and ended his hunger strike. The prison chief promised that the complaint against Papikyan won't be considered.
The attorney said that both the Ombudsman's and journalists' as well as her own calls played a role.
Earlier, Khachatryan had described the reasons for her client's hunger strike. "Papikyan was enraged over an unjustified complaint by some woman that allegedly Artur took money from her, after which the deputy chief of Goris Penitentiary, in order not to consider the complaint, asked for money from Papikyan. Since he refused to give money, they began to bother him in various ways, for example, constantly searching his room. So that they leave him alone, Artur sewed his mouth shut," she said.
Papikyan was convicted in 2008 on charges of assault and property theft through deceit.