Epress.am News from Armenia
At around 2:30 pm, Aram Bareghamyan walked out of the Sevan penitentiary where Armenian National Congress (HAK) members led by Pan-Armenian National Movement (HHSh) party leader Aram Manukyan were waiting to greet him. The opposition activists greeted their colleague with applause and champagne, reports the Epress.am correspondent at the scene.
As previously reported, court proceedings began at 2 pm today, during which time Bareghamyan’s conditional early release was announced. For about 30 minutes, the oppositionist was signing the necessary paperwork prior to being released from prison.
Beginning as early as “tomorrow, I will be in the struggle; I am going to fight so that there is a change in regime,” he said.
Recall, Bareghamyan headed a regional chapter of a major political party aligned with HAK before being arrested in the wake of the disputed presidential ballot. He was sentenced to six years in prison for allegedly assaulting a police officer during the March 2008 unrest in Yerevan, reported RFE/RL’s Armenian service earlier.
The prison sentenced was based on the police officer’s incriminating testimony. Both Bareghamyan and the HAK leadership consider it politically motivated.