An Armenian court yesterday granted parole to yet another opposition figure from Sevan penitentiary, who was controversially arrested and imprisoned following a disputed presidential election held in February 2008. Aram Bareghamyan, who headed a regional chapter of a major political party aligned with the main opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC), walked free one month after the administration of a prison recommended his early release. The recommendation was seconded later in April by a state commission dealing with parole applications. Bareghamyan was among more than a hundred loyalists of ANC leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan who were arrested in the wake of the March 2008 unrest in Yerevan. He was sentenced to six years in prison for allegedly assaulting a police officer. The prison sentenced was based on the policeman’s incriminating testimony. Both Bareghamyan and the ANC leadership consider it politically motivated. Bareghamyan was sentenced to a 6-year imprisonment.
