“WE DEMAND FAIR ESTIMATION”
Support A1+!Today the relatives of the political prisoners staged a protest action near the Yerevan Office of the Council of Europe. They handed a letter to Lluis Maria de Puig, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The letter runs in part,
“We are writing to you on behalf of the wives, mothers and sisters of Armenia’s political prisoners who have been charged and detained in connection with the February 19 presidential election and its aftermath. We welcome the willingness of the Council of Europe to discuss Armenia’s compliance with the requirements of Res. 1609 which the Monitoring Committee has found “insufficient” to date. We recognize, as Mr. Colombier pointed out to us, that it is not within the competence of the Council of Europe to detain our family members or to release them. However, given the independence of the legislature and judiciary in Armenia, the role and responsibility of the international organizations that Armenia is a member of becomes specifically important. Hence, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe must make it absolutely clear to the government that words are no substitute for deeds, and that Armenia must comply with the letter and the spirit of the obligations it has undertaken as a member of the Council of Europe. Finally, we ask that the Parliamentary Assembly adopt clear and unambiguous wording in its documents regarding the presence of political prisoners in Armenia. The existing phrase, “persons detained on seemingly artificial and politically motivated charges,” is subject to misinterpretation and deliberate misrepresentation. Our family members are political prisoners and they must be recognized as such. They have been detained, tried and sentenced purely for their peaceful and lawful participation in the 2008 presidential election. We call upon the CoE to publicly acknowledge that there are political prisoners in Armenia and to make it clear to our government that this cannot and will not be tolerated.”
“We must thank Ter-Petrossian for awakening people from sleep. We are confident that democracy will win one day in the country. We demand that the CoE give a fair estimation to the recent events in Armenia,” said a woman-protester.
The protesters then directed to the President’s residence.
