HAK Raises Political Prisoners Issue at Meeting with PACE Delegates Though Not Sure If Political Prisoners in Armenia

The Armenian National Congress (HAK) raised 5 issues in its meeting with Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) co-rapporteurs for monitoring Armenia Axel Fischer and Alan Meale: uncovering the circumstances surrounding March 1, 2008; electoral fraud and not publishing voter lists; the need for constitutional reform; media freedom; and the issue of political prisoners, said HAK faction secretary Aram Manukyan (pictured) in conversation with Epress.am.

However, he said that HAK itself has not yet decided if there are political prisoners in Armenia or not. "Our party is discussing the question of whether Shant Harutyunyan and Volodya Avetisyan correspond to the criteria of political prisoners. I haven't yet reached a conclusion," he said. 

Recall, the PACE co-rapporteurs also met with representatives of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Heritage Party, during which time they raised the issue of political prisoners and the protection of the rights of LGBT people in Armenia.