Zhirayr Sefilyan: We will continue to struggle against the regime in the same spirit (video)
Members of the Founding Parliament opposition members - Zhirayr Sefilyan, Pavel Manukyan and Varuzhan Avetisyan - are now waiting for their two friends outside the Vardashen penitentiary who are expected to come out at any moment. Talking to A1+ Company, - Zhirayr Sefilyan, a key member of the Founding Parliament group that seeks regime change in Armenia, says he feels good after the release. While Sefilyan said he was not tortured in prison during his one-month stay there, he stressed that his jailed friends were systematically tortured by prison authorities. Sefilyan did not know the reasons for their release but added that he would continue the struggle with his friends against the regime ‘in the same spirit.’ They will decide on their future steps during the meeting of the Founding Parliament group. “They came and told us “You are free. Nothing else,” Sefilyan said adding that their release was expected as the authorities could not illegally keep them in prison for a long time.” Earlier on Monday, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia reported that according to Articles 53, 142 and 151 of Armenia’s Code of Criminal Procedure, the restraint (arrest) imposed on the Founding Parliament members had been mitigated and they would be released on their own recognizance. The five leading members of the opposition group – Zhirayr Sefilyan, Pavel Manukyan, Garegik Chukaszyan, Varuzhan Avetisyan and Gevorg Safaryan – were arrested on April 7 on suspicion of planning to stir up ‘mass disturbances’ at the sites of genocide centenary commemorations on April 24. The arrested oppositionists deny the charges and consider that the government is persecuting them for their political views.
