Isler Beguin visited political prisoners
"Discussions are very heated regarding the arrests of those seven," said today in Yerevan Co-president of the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee Marie Anne Isler Beguin.
The delegation led by Begen visited the penitentiary and met with political prisoners. In fact, Isler Beguin used the term "political prisoner".
"First, we met with those in the penitentiaries to see what they have to say about the events because the European Parliament pays close attention to issues related to human rights. True, those seven who were arrested as a result of the events of March 1 interest us. That is why we spoke with the Justice Minister, the Chief of Police, as well as RA Deputies, but we must also take into account the views expressed by the Council of Europe which define the concept "political prisoner"," told "A1+ Isler Beguin.
The European guests also met with NGO representatives today to discuss the issues concerning political prisoners.
"The Council of Europe and the NGOs give various definitions for the term political prisoner. But one thing is for sure-when we take a glance back at the events of March 1, we realize that it is clear that the EU must extend a hand to the Armenian authorities to implement the legislative and judicial reforms so that people will see their issues resolved. I think that in that sense we received positive remarks by the Chief of Police and our colleagues."
In response to the question of "A1+", Mrs. Isler Beguin also touched upon the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement and Turkey's EU integration.
"I hope that the blockade will end very soon and the roads will be open. Turkey is currently in the stage of EU integration. As you know, Turkey may become a EU member only after it resolves all issues and corresponds to EU norms. I hope that all countries of the South Caucasus, including Armenia, become EU members and I hope that that will happen in the near future," she said.
Do EU standards apply for all countries? How will the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement reflect upon Turkey's EU integration process? In response to that Beguin said:
"The same standards apply for all countries. That is why for some countries the process takes longer and for some it takes shorter. The standards don't include the recognition of the genocide. We can study the legal and legislative fields, but there is no fixed standard."
