13 April 2009, 23:30
In Armenia, Shant Arutyunyan will be transferred from psychiatric clinic of "Nubarashen" prison
On April 14, one of the defendants in the "Case of Seven", political prisoner Shant Arutyunyan will be transferred from the psychiatric hospital "Nubarashen" to the corrective establishment named "Vardashen". The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by human rights defender Mikael Danielyan, who confirmed the statements of Arutyunyan and his relatives about very poor conditions in "Nubarashen" hospital.
According to Mr Danielyan, the conditions in "Vardashen" are much better.
Arutyunyan's transfer became possible due to interference of the Ombudsman's office. The prisoner's relatives addressed him with a complaint on violation of the rights of the prisoner and his relatives who were not allowed to meet him since March 9.
On April 10, after interference of Ombudsman's office and law enforcement bodies, Shant Arutyunyan's wife was allowed to meet him. "I want to reiterate that my husband needs no psychiatric examination. He is deliberately kept in the mental hospital and in isolation from the external world to hide that he is sane," said Ruzanna Badalyan, the prisoner's wife. She told journalists that relatives failed to find out the results of three psychiatric examinations, which are kept secret.
Let us note here that the statement disseminated on April 9 on behalf of Shant Arutyunyan runs: "I'm kept here in inhuman conditions. For 24 days I didn't have even 10 minutes of walk. For almost a month I saw no sun and clean air. At night I can't sleep because of cold."
Author: Lilit Ovanisyan Source: CK correspondent
