Epress.am News from Armenia
A prisoner at the Nubarashen jail in Yerevan, Narek Sargsyan, ended a two-week hunger strike on November 11 after members of the Founding Parliament opposition movement sent him a letter advising Sargsyan against fruitlessly ruining his health, lawyer Arayik Papikyan told Epress.am today.
“I visited Narek yesterday and passed him a letter from Jirayr Sefilyan, Varuzhan Avetisyan, Arayik Khandoyan and Areg Kyureghyan. In the letter, [the oppositionists] urged Sargsyan to end the hunger strike, insisting that this method of protest is ineffective when it comes to the current regime in Armenia,” Papikyan said.
The 24-year-old native of Armenia's Gekharkunik province started the hunger strike at the end of October in protest of his continued “unlawful” detention. Sargsyan was arrested on July 20, during a protest action in support of Sasna Tsrer (Daredevils of Sasun), the Founding Parliament-affiliated armed group that seized a Yerevan police station on July 17. He is being accused of taking part in mass disorders and committing violence against a police officer; if convicted, the 24-year-old could be sentenced to up to 8 years behind bars.