Armenian human rights defenders criticize sentence for Gevorg Safaryan

At a press conference, Armenian human rights defender has claimed political nature of the sentence for Gevorg Safaryan, a member of the "Constituent Parliament".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 16, in Yerevan, a court found Gevorg Safaryan, an activist of the "Constituent Parliament", guilty of using violence against public officers and sentenced him to two years of imprisonment.

On January 18, the Yerevan Club of Public Journalism "Media Centre" held a press conference concerning the sentence for Gevorg Safaryan, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

At the press conference, Arthur Sakunts, a human rights defender and the head of the Vanadzor Office of the Helsinki Association, has stated that the verdict of guilty pronounced against Gevorg Safaryan reflects cynicism and cynical attitude of the authorities towards the Armenian society.

According to Arthur Sakunts, the above sentence is a punitive verdict pronounced not only against Gevorg Safaryan, but also against the entire civil society of the country.

"The verdict threatens the Armenian citizens' right to freedom of expression and assembly," noted the human rights defender.

Vardan Arutyunyan, the chairman of the centre "Rights and Freedom", a human rights defender and a dissident, has called the verdict the government's vendetta against the people who disagree with the authorities' policies. According to Vardan Arutyunyan, the malpractice to pronounce verdicts on the basis of policemen's testimonies has taken roots in Armenia.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.