01 April 2008, 12:40
Armenia: 20 arrested oppositionists go on hunger strike
On April 1, twenty detained activists of Armenian opposition declared that on April 2 they would start a hunger strike in protest against the charges presented to them. The oppositionists assert that their arrests were politically motivated and demand to stop the criminal cases initiated against them.
The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it at the election office of Levon Ter-Petrosyan.
The hunger-strikers' demands include, in particular: invalidation of the outcomes of the presidential election held on February 19; independent international investigation of the events on March 1 in Yerevan; release of all political prisoners; cease of political terror; and lifting the introduced restrictions on holding rallies, marches and demonstrations.
According to Arsen Babayan, press secretary of the Department of Penitentiary Establishments of Yerevan, they have already received applications of those who are going to hunger-strike. He has assured that from the starting day the hunger-strikes will be placed into separate cells.
We remind you that on March 1, on the eighth day of his hunger strike, Suren Surenyants, a member of the Political Board of the "Republic" Party, disseminated his statement that the charges presented to him were a manifestation of political prosecution practised in Armenia.
Author: Lilit Ovanisyan, CK correspondent
