Protestors Plan to Appeal to International Bodies in Case of Detained
Opposition Activist
09.27.2013 18:09 epress.am
Joining the weekly protest outside the general prosecutor's office
demanding opposition activist Tigran Araqelyan's release today were
war veterans, protesting unfair conditions since May, who also signed
the petition to release the political prisoner Araqelyan. Armenian
National Congress (HAK) vice-chair Aram Manukyan welcomed the move,
emphasizing that their various issues - improved conditions for war
veterans, exposing non-combat deaths in the army, and countering
automated paid parking spots - cannot be resolved separately until the
public comes together and the current authorities do not resign.
Circulated during the demonstration was a petition to release the
activist on bail (rather than keeping him in prison, where he has
remained for the past two years pending a verdict), which will then be
submitted to the Court of Appeals for its next session. Recall, an
appeal signed by more than 100 prominent public figures, promising to
post bail and ensure the activist does not flee the country, was
earlier rejected by the court, which refused for the third time to
change its earlier decision.
Demonstraters have said their next move will be bringing international
attention to the case. HAK will appeal to international bodies, asking
various countries' ambassadors stationed in Armenia to monitor the
case and ask the Armenian authorities to release the prisoner.
During today's demonstration, Manukyan also mentioned nomination of
the candidate for general prosecutor, saying they don't have great
expectations that Gevorg Kostanyan will change anything in the system.
Manukyan said that during its meeting with Kostanyan, the HAK
parliamentary faction raised the following issues: the cases of March
1 victims, political prisoners, and Tigran Araqelyan, a review of the
issue of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party, eliminating the
practice of remand or pre-trial detention instead of bail in 95% of
cases, and the fight against corruption.
"In any case, we have no hope that he will resolve these issues. We
have no illusion that in this country there could be a prosecutor who
can solve these matters. We raised those issues as a matter of
courtesy, and we've agreed to get the answers to those questions in a
short period of time," said Manukyan.
http://www.epress.am/en/2013/09/27/protestors-plan-to-appeal-to-international-bodies-in-case-of-detained-opposition-activist-video.html
Opposition Activist
09.27.2013 18:09 epress.am
Joining the weekly protest outside the general prosecutor's office
demanding opposition activist Tigran Araqelyan's release today were
war veterans, protesting unfair conditions since May, who also signed
the petition to release the political prisoner Araqelyan. Armenian
National Congress (HAK) vice-chair Aram Manukyan welcomed the move,
emphasizing that their various issues - improved conditions for war
veterans, exposing non-combat deaths in the army, and countering
automated paid parking spots - cannot be resolved separately until the
public comes together and the current authorities do not resign.
Circulated during the demonstration was a petition to release the
activist on bail (rather than keeping him in prison, where he has
remained for the past two years pending a verdict), which will then be
submitted to the Court of Appeals for its next session. Recall, an
appeal signed by more than 100 prominent public figures, promising to
post bail and ensure the activist does not flee the country, was
earlier rejected by the court, which refused for the third time to
change its earlier decision.
Demonstraters have said their next move will be bringing international
attention to the case. HAK will appeal to international bodies, asking
various countries' ambassadors stationed in Armenia to monitor the
case and ask the Armenian authorities to release the prisoner.
During today's demonstration, Manukyan also mentioned nomination of
the candidate for general prosecutor, saying they don't have great
expectations that Gevorg Kostanyan will change anything in the system.
Manukyan said that during its meeting with Kostanyan, the HAK
parliamentary faction raised the following issues: the cases of March
1 victims, political prisoners, and Tigran Araqelyan, a review of the
issue of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party, eliminating the
practice of remand or pre-trial detention instead of bail in 95% of
cases, and the fight against corruption.
"In any case, we have no hope that he will resolve these issues. We
have no illusion that in this country there could be a prosecutor who
can solve these matters. We raised those issues as a matter of
courtesy, and we've agreed to get the answers to those questions in a
short period of time," said Manukyan.
http://www.epress.am/en/2013/09/27/protestors-plan-to-appeal-to-international-bodies-in-case-of-detained-opposition-activist-video.html