19:52, 20 September 2013

In Armenia, protesters set up committee "In Defence of Tigran Arakelyan"

About 50 protesters in front of the building of the GPO of Armenia have demanded to release Tigran Arakelyan, an oppositional activist and a member of the Party "Armenian National Congress" (ANC), from custody.

On July 20, 2012, activists of the ANC Tigran Arakelyan, Artak Karapetyan, David Kiramidjyan and Sarkis Gevorkyan were sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to six years. The court found them guilty of disorderly conduct and disobeying policemen in the conflict on August 9, 2011, between a group of young people and the police in Yerevan.

The today's protest was attended by about 50 people; some of them held posters calling to release Tigran Arakelyan.

The audience was addressed by Levon Zurabyan, the Vice-Chairman of the ANC and the head of the party's parliamentary faction, who said that "the party has initiated creation of a mass organization to defend the rights of the political prisoner – the committee "In Defence of Tigran Arakelyan".

Zurabyan also reported that on September 21 six newspapers will bear Arakelyan's photo on their first pages, with inscription: "We recognize Tigran Arakelyan to be a political prisoner and demand his immediate release."

Author: Lilit Ovanisyan

Source: CK correspondent