In Armenia, arrested activists of "Founding Parliament" not allowed to be visited by family members

At the press conference held in Yerevan on April 15, advocates of arrested members of the "Founding Parliament" have declared that the arrests of the activists in Armenia are an act of political persecution. According to the defence, investigators have unreasonably imposed a ban on the visits of family members to the arrested activists.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 7, members of the "Founding Parliament" (formerly "Pre-Parliament"), including Zhirair Sefilyan, the leader of the movement "100 Years without Regime", activist Gevorg Safaryan, Varuzhan Avetisyan, the Deputy Chairman of the movement, activist Pavel Manukyan, and Garegin Chukaszyan, the Chairman of the movement, were arrested on suspicion of plotting riots in Armenia.

At the press conference, Ara Zakaryan, an advocate of the arrested activists, has stated that the authorities persecute Zhirair Sefilyan and his supporters for their political beliefs and added that the arrested members of the "Founding Parliament" are to be recognized as political prisoners. According to the advocate, the case materials contain no evidence that Zhirair Sefilyan and his supporters were really plotting mass riots.

Besides, at the press conference, it was reported that investigators had imposed a ban on visits of family members to the arrested activists. The defence treats the decision as formal and baseless. The visits of family members can in no way affect the course of the investigation. This position of the defence was expressed by advocate Ara Zakaryan.

"It is just psychological pressure on the arrested activists," the advocate believes.

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