ANC activists stage protest during PACE session in Yerevan
Activists of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) today held their traditional Friday protest in front of the Armenia Marriott Hotel, where the PACE Standing Committee was convening its regular sitting.
The ANC representatives demanded that PACE delegates ‘condemn all types of elections rigged by the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), intimidations against citizens and distribution of bribe. They also demand that the authorities in Armenia stop political chase against ANC activists Tigran Arakelyan, Sargis Gevorgyan, Artak Karapetyan, David Kiramijyan and immediately release political prisoner Tigran Arakelyan.'
The parents of servicemen killed in non-battle conditions were also outside the hotel. They called on PACE to interfere and speed up the disclosure of the murders of their sons.
The four activists of the Armenian National Congress were taken into custody after an August 2011 standoff with police officers in a Yerevan park. They were charged with hooliganism against a representative of law-enforcement body and sentenced to 2-6 years in prison. Arakelyan received the longest prison sentence for what the Armenian police say was a key role in the incident. The three activists were later released with only Tigran Arakelyan remaining in prison. All the four activists denied police claims that they had attacked law-enforcement officers maintaining public order in the city center.
