Armenian rights defenders call on politicians to recognize Shant Arutyunyan as political prisoner

All political forces of Armenia should recognize Shant Arutyunyan, the convicted leader of the "Tsegakron" Party, to be a political prisoner, said Avetik Ishkhanyan, the chairman of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia. Azat Arshakyan, a former political prisoner, and Karine Akopyan, a publicist, have treated the verdict to Arutyunyan and other activists as "irresponsible."

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 17 the first instance court of general jurisdiction of the administrative districts Kentron-Nork-Marash sentenced Shant Arutyunyan, the head of the "Tsegakron" Party and the organizer of the "Million Mask March", to six years in prison. The remaining defendants in the case received punishments ranging from a fine up to seven years in prison. In total, the prisoner's dock contained 14 activists.

The verdict in the case of "Million Mask March" was criticized by the participants of the meeting "Sentence to Shant Arutyunyan and his comrades", which took place in Yerevan.

A theatrical performance was not worth qualifying as hooliganism, said Avetik Ishkhanyan, the chairman of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia, adding that by his actions Arutyunyan tried to persuade authorities to carry out reforms in order to avoid revolution.

The rights defender believes that such a severe punishment was caused by the fact that the defendants refused to admit their guilt. Ishkhanyan also noted that rights defenders had asked the European Commissioner for Human Rights to pay attention to the situation.