Sevan Nişanyan sentenced to 17 years' imprisonment for building house in his garden (video)
Linguist and cultural figure Sevan Nişanyan was awarded with a "William Saroyan" medal during an event that was held at the Cezayir Meeting Halls in Istanbul on September 23. Armenian lawmaker Aragats Akhoyan, two Turkish MPs, Sevan Nshanyan’s mother were among the guests. “The decision to award Sevan Nshanyan was taken still in 2014. We only knew that he [Nişanyan] was in prison for his political views, and there was no opportunity for the organizers to give him the medal,” Aragats Akhoyan said on Tuesday during a meeting with journalists. International Committee for Freedom & Justice for Sevan Nişanyan did not miss the opportunity to start a new wave of discussions after the medal awarding ceremony and demand Nişanyan’s release. “Being a bold cultural activist, Sevan Nişanyan openly criticized the country’s authorities, but he was arrested allegedly for constructing an illegal house in his own garden. And can you imagine he was sentenced to 17 years in prison. In fact, the charges are fabricated, and I think he was sent to prison for standing in somebody's way,” Mr. Akhoyan said.
