Lawyers and human rights activists demanded that Narek Samsonyan undergo surgery.

Lawyers for Narek Samsonyan, who is on an indefinite hunger strike, reported his deteriorating health and the need for urgent surgery. Human rights activists have recognized him as a political prisoner and demanded his immediate release.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," a Yerevan court extended the detention of Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan, co-authors of the "Imnemnimi" podcast, on charges of hooliganism. Following this decision, Narek Samsonyan announced the beginning of an indefinite hunger strike.

The chairman of the public organization "Civil Consciousness", the founder of the online resource AntiFake.am, the co-author and host of the podcast "Imnemnimi" Narek Samsonyan, through his lawyers, distributed an open letter from the Armavir penitentiary institution, in which he announced "the deterioration of his health on the 9th day of the hunger strike."

According to him, for 9 days "not a single representative of state bodies visited him, nor did the ombudsman - despite the fact that I don't expect anything from them, but, at least in the case of the ombudsman, it was his responsibility."

Samsonyan noted that an operation was planned even before the arrest, which never took place due to imprisonment.

"Despite the application submitted on January 5, my "The attending physician was only allowed to see me after 10 days. The doctor indicated the need for urgent surgical intervention, but the relevant services stated that a transfer for surgery would be possible no earlier than 10 days later," Samsonyan wrote.

Samsonyan emphasized that "he is being held in custody without evidence of a crime, and after going on a hunger strike, he was transferred to a punishment cell, which is an example of inhumane treatment and political persecution."

According to him, the goal of the hunger strike is "to bring what is happening to the attention of the international community and to draw attention to systemic human rights violations."

Due to the deterioration of Samonyan's health, on January 17, Narek Samsonyan's lawyers, Ruben Melikyan and Astghik Matevosyan, convened an urgent press conference at the Antifake.am office in Yerevan dedicated to the health of Narek Samsonyan.

"Due to the hunger strike, a deterioration in Narek's health has been recorded." Samsonyan. Political prisoner Narek Samsonyan has a serious health problem, which, combined with the consequences of his hunger strike, poses serious risks. We have been discussing his health since yesterday; he urgently needs surgery. Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan are behind bars on a case that we consider absurd," stated Ruben Melikyan. He called on relevant human rights organizations not to ignore the rights of political prisoners in Armenia. Astghik Matevosyan noted that she visits Samsonyan daily to receive prompt information on his condition. "A hunger strike is a right and a form of struggle, and no one has the right to demand that Samsonyan end his indefinite hunger strike. At the same time, we want to draw public attention to the systemic violations of the rights of political prisoners. We also demand immediate action and an adequate response to the current situation from law enforcement, investigative, and executive bodies, as this is an urgent issue," Matevosyan said.

Following the press conference, the Initiative of Five Human Rights Defenders issued a statement demanding "the immediate release of political prisoner Narek Samsonyan." The human rights defenders noted that, according to PACE criteria, "Narek Samsonyan is a political prisoner, since he is being prosecuted for an act that is clearly not a crime."
They demanded the immediate release of political prisoner Narek Samsonyan and the urgent implementation of an operation.

The Initiative of Five Human Rights Defenders includes lawyers Arsen Babayan, Varazdat Harutyunyan, Sergey Harutyunyan, Vahan Hovhannisyan, Ruben Melikyan.

Artur Khachatryan, a member of the Armenian parliament's "Armenia" faction, announced that he had submitted Narek Samsonyan's case to the EU office. "If democratic values continue to matter to Europe, there must be a response to the egregious violations of the rights of Narek and other political prisoners."