06:28, 17 June 2015

Armenian MoJ agrees to transfer Arutyunyan and Vardanyan to closed-type penitentiary facility

Shant Arutyunyan (to the left) in the courtroom, July 2014. Photo by Armine Martirosyan for the "Caucasian Knot"

In Armenia, the Commission on distribution of places in penal institutions (penitentiaries) has granted the appeals of Shant Arutyunyan, the leader of the "Tsegakron" Party, and Vardan Vardanyan, sentenced in the case of "Million Mask March", concerning their transfer to a penitentiary of closed type for further servicing of their sentences.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Shant Arutyunyan and Lieutenant Colonel Vardan Vardanyan, a Karabakh War veteran, who were sentenced in the case of "Million Mask March", asked to transfer them for further servicing of their sentences to a penitentiary of closed type because of their fear for their lives. On June 12, Shant Arutyunyan and Vardan Vardanyan declared a hunger strike.

According to Gor Glechyan, the chief of the press service of the Criminal Executive Department of the Armenian Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the question whether Shant Arutyunyan and Vardan Vardanyan will serve their sentences at the same cell or at different cells still remains unresolved. Gor Glechyan has emphasized that the question is to be resolved by the penitentiary administration.

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

Author: Armine Martirosyan

Source: CK correspondent