A leading international human rights organization, the Human Rights Watch, has called on the Armenian authorities to release the editor of a pro-opposition newspaper who was imprisoned two years ago for evading military service. Arman Babajanyan, who founded and edited the “Zhamanak Yerevan” newspaper, was arrested in June 2006 and subsequently sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. “We consider the additional 1.5 years that he has yet to serve are disproportionate to the offense, and call on you to review his case and grant him early release,” Holly Cartner, the Europe and Central Asia director of the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in a Thursday letter to Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and Justice Minister Gevorg Danielyan. “Babajanian’s release would send a positive signal to both Armenia’s international partners and to the Armenian public that you and other senior officials are concerned about the present critical state of human rights in Armenia and taking concrete steps to address particular concerns,” Cartner said.
