EaP Civil Society Conference Calls for the Release of Political Prisoners in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus

The European Union's Eastern Partnership Civil Society Conference in Riga unanimously adopted a special resolution on political prisoners on Thursday, May 21, proposed by human rights defender and former political prisoner Ales Bialiatski. The resolution calls for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Azerbaijan, Belarus and Armenia. 

“The governments of these countries must understand that imprisonment of their citizens for political reasons has no place in light of the commitments they made when joining the Eastern Partnership.

Prisoners must be released, harassment of NGOs must stop, and human rights must be respected,” the resolution says. 

Note, a number of international and local human rights organizations, politicians, and political parties have recognized jailed reserve colonel Volodya Avetisyan, oppositionist Shant Harutyunyan, and his imprisoned supporters as political prisoners.