Yesterday scores of Armenian citizens gathered near the premises of the Public Prosecutor’s Office demanding to stop violence against political prisoner Nikol Pashinyan. Let us remember that according to the penitentiary administration, On November 11 at about 2:30 a.m., employees of the penitentiary institution heard noises and noticed a light in Nikol’s cell. Pashinyan claimed he had been attacked by two masked persons.
During yesterday’s picket a hundred opposition activists were demanding to release Nikol Pashinyan and 11 other political prisoners. During the protest action, the policemen cordoned off the building. When several oppositionists tried to break through, a police officer elbowed former political prisoner Vardges Gaspari knocking him to the ground. The protesters hurried to help Gaspari. The traffic was halted for ten minutes. From the front side of the building they moved in front of the building of the Prosecutor-General. Coordinator of the Armenian National Congress (HAK) Levon Zurabyan called the participants and the deputy chief of police of Yerevan Robert Melkonyan and deputy chief of police of Kentron Arayik Petrosyan for a "civilized struggle." "I do not want to be governed by disreputable people who came to power at the cost of bloodshed of October 27 and March 1. I want Armenia to become a fair and democratic country like European countries," said protester Djivan Hovhannisyan. After this incident Robert Melkonyan (nickname Bazaz) ordered one of his subordinates to call backup forces. Behind the building quite a number of policemen approached and built a wall along the sidewalk. Let us remember that this is the second incident of assault against Pashinyan. “This is not the first attempt. In December 2008 there was violence applied in relation to political prisoners Grigor Voskerchyan, Gevorg Manukyan, Vardges Gaspari and Armen Sargsyan. At that time all that was done with one goal – to attain regret requests from them. Today the goal has changed. The regime is intimidated and this is an evident attempt to hush the media,” said Levon Zurabyan. The ANC likewise accused the police of breaking the law in a statement issued later in the day. “Despite these illegalities, the Congress will continue its daily struggle against this criminal government and vicious practices engendered by it,” said the opposition alliance. Yesterday we tried to receive the comments of the Minister of Justice Gevorg Danielyan about the cases of assault in relation to Pashinyan. He critically denied any attempt of an organized violence in relation to any prisoner. As of the unorganized ones the minister mentioned that the culprits will definitely be condemned and cases will be filed against them. “Moreover, the international experts, who had been communicating with the convicts, have received a very good impression. Soon they will release their report and for the first time they will write that the cases of violence have reduced in penitentiaries of Armenia. So the authors of this opinion are people, who had a drastically different opinion 3-4 years ago,” mentioned Danielyan. Yesterday the spokesman for the Justice Ministry’s Department of Penitentiaries Arsen Babayan tried for the second time to deny the assault against Pashinyan. “The forensic examination has once again denied the case of deliberate violence to the mentioned person. And there was evidently no sign of a boot on his body as revealed during the examination,” reads the statement released by him yesterday. However, two days ago the attorney of Pashinyan Vahe Hovsepyan stated that in his and Pashinyan’s presence the shift manager of the jail Beglaryan and the head of the security division Zakaryan have noticed seven black signs on the blanket of Pashinyan. “It apparently looked like a sign from the boot. There were also 4 stains of blood on the blanket. Stains of blood are also visible on Nikol’s night gown,” said the attorney. On the night of November 11, Armenian Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan received a telephone call from the wife of Haykakan Nikol who informed the ombudsman about an assault on Nikol in the Kosh penitentiary institution. Armen Harutyunyan immediately instructed the Ombudsman’s quick response group to clarify the details of the incident. During the visit of the quick response group, Pashinyan was in the duty station to clarify the circumstances. Presently, investigation is underway in the penitentiary. "The Ombudsman is ready to help Pashinyan undergo an examination if the latter disagrees with the results of the forensic examination appointed by the Ministry of Health," reads a statement released by the Ombudsman’s Office. The Ombudsman urges MP Z. Postanjyan and Spokesman for the Justice Ministry’s Department of Penitentiaries Arsen Babayan to avoid making allegations before receiving the results of the examination. "The Ombudsman’s Office has neither confirms nor denies the reports about the assault as the information is mutually exclusive," reads the statement. When speaking to us yesterday V. Hovsepyan didn’t give us details on what steps they are going to undertake to investigate the case of assault against Pashinyan. “You will know about that soon,” said the attorney.