HRW calls on to free Andrias Gukasyan

The activist Andrias Gukasyan, accused of organizing mass disorders in the Yerevan district of Sari Tag, in fact held demonstrators from clashing with the police, the international organization "Human Rights Watch" (HRW) has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Andrias Gukasyan was detained at night on July 30, 2016. On August 24, 2016, the Armenia's Court of Appeal (CoA) refused to release Gukasyan from custody. On January 26, 2017, the court again rejected the defence's petition to release the activist on bail.

On July 29, 2016, a rally in support of the capturers of the police regiment building in the Yerevan district of Sari Tag was dispersed by power agents, resulting in 73 suffered people. According to the police, Andrias Gukasyan, a member of the National Salvation Front and the civil movement "Arise, Armenia!", was among the leaders of one of groups of demonstrators.

In its statement, the HRW has condemned the court's decision to extend Gukasyan's custody and urged the court to change the activist's detention regime, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

"The video materials, referred to by law enforcers, show Andrias Gukasyan calling on demonstrators to remain calm and not to confront the police," Giorgi Gogia, the director of the HRW's division for Southern Caucasus, notes in his statement.

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