What did Shant Harutyunyan tell his son during their last meeting? (video)
“Love, friendliness, patriotism, dignity, freedom, equality, brotherhood, respect…” Civil activist Shahen Harutyunyan, who is fighting for these values, is turning 17 today. It is the third year Shahen, the son of jailed radical opposition leader Shant Harutyunyan, is unable to celebrate this big day around a birthday table. “One should be completely happy on his birthday. I do not think that my 17th birthday is a great occasion for organizing a great party given the fact that my father is not with me, my friends are in prison, and also because of the fact that I do not live in the Armenia I have longed for,” he says. November 5, 2013, became fatal for Shahen, his father Shant Harutyunyan, and may others. Shant was sentenced to 6 years in prison for disorderly conduct and use of violence against a representative of law enforcement bodies and his friends received terms of one to seven years. The court gave Shant’s underage son, Shahen Harutyunyan a four-year suspended sentence. Shahen has to show up at the police station every week. After applying to different courts in Armenia the advocates appealed to the European Court of Human Rights which accepted the complaint. Shahen last saw his father on December 28, 2015. “He was in a good mood. Naturally, he is of the same opinion about his country. He believes that the authorities should be changed in Armenia, and we must get rid of the criminal regime.” Shahen says a lot of things have changed in his life since his father’s arrest and ‘the fight for justice has come to the fore instead of football.’ He tries to promote his message in support of his father and others using all platforms and even intruded the soccer pitch at a Yerevan stadium during the Armenia v Portugal Euro-2016 qualifier on June 12, 2015. Shahen himself played football for eleven years and gave it up on April 24, 2015. He does not want to speak about the reasons. “Football is in our blood. My father is also a football fan. At first, I could not imagine my life without football and played for 11 until April 24, 2015,” Shahen said. Today, Shahen goes to school and wants to continue his studies at the Faculty of International Relations. In the future, he sees himself in the political arena. “There are people in our political domain who do not have the slightest notion about politics. If I want to see profound changes in this country and change values I have to rely on myself,” he said. Shahen has an appeal to his peers. “We should fight to have the country we crave for. Each of us should realize that we are the masters and citizens of this country. One of the most difficult things is being a citizen,” he said in conclusion.
