Epress.am News from Armenia
Artak Gevorgyan, an Armenian artist and activist who was brought to trial earlier this year for crashing a home-made cardboard tank into the building of the country's National Security Service (NSS), is not allowed to leave the country despite having been acquitted by a Yerevan court.
Speaking to Epress.am Tuesday, Gevorgyan said that the acquittal verdict was issued on June 24 and the travel ban imposed on him should have been lifted accordingly within a month after he was acquitted. However, the artist has since been detained twice at the Bagratashen checkpoint when trying to travel to Georgia.
“In September, when I tried to cross the border for the second time, I was handcuffed and taken to the Bagratashen police station. I phoned the office of the Human Rights Ombudsman but they told me that it was a 'systemic problem' and that they could do nothing to help me,” Gevorgyan stated.
“I've gone everywhere; the police tell me to appeal to the NSS; the NSS says I should go to the police; the court says the verdict has been issued and should have come into force by now but they can do nothing else,” the artist added, claiming that authorities were deliberately ignoring the issue.