Justice Ministry: "We have what we have"
Armenia's Justice Ministry states that life-termer Arthur Mkrtchyan, who went on hunger strike in Nubarashen penitentiary on December 7, is under medical supervision.
"Media outlets regularly refer to the health condition of life-term prisoner Arthur Mkrtchyan. He has been under the constant surveillance of doctors from the very first day of the hunger strike; therefore he was separated from the other inmates. However, the law does not specify special conditions for hunger-strikers," the Ministry said in a statement.
"The difference between an ordinary cell and isolation ward is that convicts are provided with individual sleeping places and bedding in the second one.
We have what we have - a legacy left over from the Soviet Union.
In addition, the conditions for life termers are better in Nubarashen than in other penitentiary institutions.
To this end, the Ministry continues to improve prison conditions and carry out infrastructural reforms," reads the statement.
