In Armenia, Volodya Avetisyan declares hunger strike

Today, Volodya Avetisyan, sentenced in Armenia for six years on the charge of fraud, has declared a hunger strike in connection with the dismissal of his motion for conditional early relief (CER) or commutation of his sentence.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that for the first time, the independent commission refused Volodya Avetisyan in CER in July 2015. On October 30, 2015, it became known that the independent commission on CER for the second time dismissed the Volodya Avetisyan's motion on CER or replacement of his remaining sentence with more lenient punishment. On the same day, Volodya Avetisyan declared a hunger strike and did not stop it until November 9.

Today, Volodya Avetisyan, has declared a hunger strike again after his request for commutation of his sentence or CER was dismissed. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Gagik Sarukhanyan, a supporter of Volodya Avetisyan, the chairman of the military-patriotic organization "Hachakir".

According to Gagik Sarukhanyan, the independent commission on CER "continues to unreasonably dismiss" the motions filed by Volodya Avetisyan. "So far, the commission has never justified its decision, and they produce only one short answer: 'Refused'," Gagik Sarukhanyan has said. He has also added that he treats such decisions of the independent commission as human rights violations.

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