In Armenia, Ombudsman is anxious about state of health of convicted journalist Babadzhanyan

Armen Arutyunyan, Armenian Ombudsman, has addressed Gevork Danielyan, Minister of Justice, with a request to help in organizing medical examination of Arman Babadzhanyan, now imprisoned editor-in-chief of the oppositional newspaper "Zhamanak" (Time), whose health condition has sharply worsened.

"In view of the oral request to me of prisoner Babadzhanyan, I hereby ask to organize a respective medical examination, and, should the concern of the prisoner's aggravated health condition get confirmed, to take measures to improve it," the Ombudsman noted in his letter to the Minister of Justice.

Let us note here that the journalist, sentenced to 3.5 years of imprisonment on charges of army service evasion, addressed the Ombudsman for help in organizing his treatment. The employees of the Ombudsman's office visited Arman Babadzhanyan at the prison hospital. In the course of the meeting they got acquainted with his health condition and conclusion of the medical survey, according to which a tumour sized 7.5 mm was diagnosed in his brain.

According to Babadzhanyan, one year ago the size of the same tumour was 2 mm. He fears that till the end of his term - by September 16 - the important period for treatment can be missed.