Participants of "Million Mask March" in Yerevan complain about poor custody conditions

In Yerevan, in the trial in the case against Shant Arutyunyan, the leader of the "Tsegakron" Party, and other participants of the action of November 5, 2013, the defendants complained about poor custody conditions, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 5, 2013, Yerevan hosted the "Million Mask March". After the protesters entered into a confrontation with the police, Shant Arutyunyan, the leader of the "Tsegakron" Party, and 19 other protesters were detained. Of them, 14 persons were then charged with resisting law enforcers with use of violence. On March 31, the charge was changed to the article on disorderly conduct.

During the court session held on August 8, the defendant Vardan Vardanyan spoke out and stated that "the Ministry of Justice with all of its structures doesn't bother to suspend its basic activities for a while and look how detainees are kept at its penitentiary institutions."

"They give us only five minutes a day to collect water, and we manage to collect two bottles for six detainees. Six persons are kept in a cell for four; and we sleep in turns. I guess no war prisoners are kept in such poor conditions. We have been kept in custody for nine months already, and no organization has ever come to ask us about our problems," said Vardan Vardanyan. He added that "a lot of innocent people are imprisoned because of the lawlessness committed by policemen."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.