Jailed Armenian Oppositionist to Be Transferred to His Preferred Cell

Gevorg Safaryan, a member New Armenia and Founding Parliament anti-government movements who was convicted by a Yerevan district court of violence against a representative of authorities and sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment in January, will be transferred to his preferred cell, Safaryan’s brother Armo Safaryan told Epress.am on Monday. According to the brother, Safaryan’s lawyers will visit him tonight to find out more about the conditions of the new cell.

Safaryan’s lawyers had recently announced that Safaryan was being held in a damp and foul-smelling semi-basement cell. According to the lawyers, the cell had mould all over its internal walls and was full of insects. The lawyers had appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, insisting that Armenia was not fulfilling its obligation to adopt all precautions to ensure the prisoner’s safety and protect him against unnecessary danger. Staffers of the office of Armenia’s human rights Ombudsman had also visited Safaryan and made a record of the conditions he was being kept in.

Arno Safaryan told us that he is not sure whether the authorities’ decision to transfer his brother to a new cell was a result of the Ombudsman’s efforts or the lawyers’ ECHR appeal.

Despite the claims by the office of the Ombudsman that they were taking all measures to ensure that Gevorg Safaryan was being treated fairly, prominent Yerevan-based civic activist Vardges Gaspari held a demonstration outside the office Monday morning, insisting that the Ombudsman’s actions were constrained since “he is carrying out the state authorities’ policies.” Gaspari also suggested that the Ombudsman should personally go to the Nubarashen prison and spend a day in Safaryan’s cell. “The Ombudsman, who, unlike other interested parties, has a privilege in the field of human rights, should have at least visited Safaryan and made a record of the true prison conditions,” the activist announced.

Chief of staff of the Ombudsman’s office Armen Mashinyan, for his part, told Gaspari and reporters that representatives of the office have paid several unannounced visits to Safaryan and will soon publish the findings of their monitoring. When asked by reporters when the findings would be published, Mashinyan replied that “as soon as we sum them up.”