Pressures continue against jailed opposition activist, says his lawyer
Pressures continue against Gevorg Safaryan, a member of the Founding Parliament movement, who was placed under pre-trial arrest for two months earlier in January following a clash with the police at Liberty Square on December 31. “They are trying to intimidate him [Gevorg Safaryan] and carry out their terrorist plans,” Safaryan’s lawyer Tigran Hayrapetyan told A1+ on Monday. Today, the lawyer visited Nubarashen penitentiary to see the jailed activist. The lawyer did not reveal more details, saying he has called an urgent press conference to present the latest events. A number of activists affiliated with the New Armenia Public Salvation Front were arrested on December 31 as they attempted to place a Christmas tree in Yerevan’s Liberty Square. All detained activists, except Gevorg Safaryan, were set free later in the same day. Safaryan was charged with assaulting and injuring a senior police officer, Gegham Khachatryan. Many in Armenia say his arrest was politically motivated.
