Today we live in a penitentiary institution called Armenia - says freedom fighter (video)
Today’s protest action held in support of jailed political activist Shant Harutyunyan and his friends started with the performance of the Armenian anthem. People gathered outside the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan’s Kentron and Nork-Marash administrative districts named, in turn, all political prisoners in Armenia and began vociferating, ‘Freedom!’ The protesters were carrying posters that read, “We want Armenia without political prisoners,” “Free and independent Armenia.” Freedom fighter Gagik Sarukhanyan thinks that Harutyunyan and his friends were imprisoned for their political views. “Today we live in a penitentiary institution called Armenia,” he stressed. Mr Sarukhanyan says Serzh Sargsyan determined the destiny of the group in the United States saying that they are criminals while he forgot about the presumption of innocence and the pending court verdict. Shant Harutyunyan, Chairman of the radical opposition Tseghakron party, and a dozen of his supporters clashed with riot police in Yerevan last November. Harutyunyan led a demonstration in Yerevan on November 5, 2013. During the protest, he and scores of his supporters were confronted by riot police that blocked the street leading to the presidential administration, which the group was going ‘to blow up’ with petrol bombs. Harutyunyan was later arrested and charged with using violence against representatives of law-enforcement agencies. He was immediately charged under Article 316.2 of the Criminal Code of Armenia (violence against a representative of the authorities that is dangerous for life or health). However, in April 2014, the charges against political activist were replaced with Article 258 Section 4 (hooliganism committed with a weapon or another item used as a weapon). Harutyunyan faces up to 7 years in prison under new charges. According to official reports, 16 people were injured in the November 5 street clashes, including eight policemen. A total of 14 citizens, including Harutyunyan’s underage son Shahen, were charged in connection with the violence. Some human rights groups and representatives of the opposition also describe the people in the dock as political prisoners. The prosecutor also demanded sentences of various lengths for Harutyunyan’s friends and sought a five-year jail sentence for his son Shahen.
