18 July 2008, 13:37
Committee of political prisoners demands resignation of Armenian president
Resignation of President Serzh Sarkisyan has been offered by the Committee in Defence of political prisoners as the way out from the current situation in Armenia.
The statement addressed to the citizens of the country runs, in particular, that those who have been fighting since 1988 for independence and democracy in the country "could not even imagine, in their most pessimistic predictions that sometime we and our comrades would find ourselves in the prisons of Armenia."
The activists who have signed the statement believe that the corrupted authorities put the future of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh under threat.
In total, 19 person have put their signatures under the statement, among them - recently released from custody former vice-speaker of the parliament of Armenia Karapet Rubinyan, former commander of the special battalion named "Shushi" Zhirair Sefilyan, a member of the "Karabakh" Committee Samvel Gevorkyan (20 years ago, when in the USSR, he was once in the status of a political prisoner) and others.
We remind you that on July 15, when summing up his three-day visit to Armenia, Thomas Hammarberg, High Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, expressed his concern with the fact that the people who had expressed their active political stand back in March, are held in custody for 4.5 months, and the term of their arrest is constantly prolonged. He also worried why their cases were not sent to courts.
Author: Lilit Ovanisyan, CK correspondent
