"Armenia has exhausted the resource of political prisoners"
Keeping opposition activist Tigran Arakelyan in prison does not bring honour to Armenia, says Vladimir Karapetyan, a senior representative of the opposition Armenian National Congress.
Together with ANC activists, Karapetyan was outside the Prosecutor's Office to demand release for Tigran Arakelyan
"We are looking forward to changes and we shall continue our Friday protests as long as Arakelyan is in custody," he said.
ANC activists Tigran Arakelyan, Sargis Gevorgyan, Artak Karapetyan and David Kiramijyan 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. The Court of Cassation has remitted the appeal back to the Court of Appeals for review. ANC considers Tigran Arakelyan to be a political prisoner.
Vladimir Karapetyan stressed that it is shameful to have a political prisoner in Armenia and political forces should struggle against the phenomenon.
"Armenia has already exhausted the resource of political prisoners and the international community will give a rough assessment to it," he concluded.
