Epress.am News from Armenia
Hrachya Gevorgyan, a seriously ill prisoner in Armavir jail, has still not ended the hunger strike that he has been on since January 20, Nina Karapetyants, head of the Yerevan-based Helsinki Association for Human Rights, told Epress.am on Friday.
According to Karapetyants, Gevorgyan’s general health state continues to deteriorate rapidly; “His legs are extremely swollen and are beginning to change color. We have appealed the issue to the office of the human rights Ombudsman because the prison administration refuses to send him for a medical examination. However, we have yet to receive a response.”
Gevorgyan has recently been transferred to the Armavir prison from Yerevan’s Nubarashen jail. In the process, the Nubarashen administration took away Gevorgyan’s wheelchair and all his medications, while officials at Armavir have so far failed to replace it, Karapetyants said.
Hrachya Gevorgyan, who was sentenced in November, 2015, to 8 years in prison for hostage-taking, violence against a representative of authorities, and extortion, is suffering from chronic hepatitis C, chronic bronchitis, Parkinson’s disease, and a pulmonary arterial hypertension; when eating or taking care of personal needs, the prisoner has to rely on the help of other inmates. The convict has previously gone on a number of hunger strikes to demand that authorities provide him with proper medical care. However, prison officials have yet to ensure that the prisoner undergoes any sort treatment which, according to a statement issued by the group of public observers conducting monitoring of Armenia’s correctional institutions, can be classified as a method of torture.