Civil activist enters 10th day of hunger strike
Activist Hayk Kyureghyan has entered the 10th day of his hunger strike in support of Artur Sargsyan (nicknamed “Bringer of Bread”). Artur Sargsyan drove his car through a police cordon on July 26 to take food to the members of the Sasna Dzrer group who remained barricaded in a police station they had seized two weeks ago. Sargsyan has been on hunger strike at the Convicts’ Hospital for more than 20 days in protest against a court decision to release him from pre-trial detention on his own recognizance. A1+ Company learned from the Penitentiary Department of the Justice Ministry that Kyureghyan’s condition is satisfactory and he is under medical supervision. In September 2015, civil activist Hayk Kyureghyan was sentenced to nine years in prison for firing an air pistol in the direction of police in July, 2014. He was detained following an incident that occurred on July 12, 2014 before a trial of opposition Tsekhakron Party leader Shant Harutyunyan and his friends. The young man climbed atop a car in a court yard and shot an air pistol off several times in the direction of the police to protest the way political trials are handled in Armenia. The prosecutor in the case had asked 14 years for the activist. Hayk’s father, Armenak Kyureghyan, does not have any news about his son. Hayk has not contacted his family since he started the hunger strike. Inmates usually make telephone calls to stay in contact with their family members. “They phone in turn. Hayk’s turn has not come yet,” says Armenak Kyureghyan. Hayk is serving his prison term in the Armavir penitentiary institution.
