Protesters in Yerevan called for the release of Artur Osipyan.
Activists in Yerevan today gathered outside the Armenian government building demanding the release of opposition figure Artur Osipyan, who was arrested after a dispute with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Osipyan has been on a hunger strike for a week, the protesters recalled.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot", on May 22 it became known that Karabakh activist Artur Osipyan, arrested in Yerevan, has gone on a hunger strike, demanding an apology from Nikol Pashinyan. Observers are confident that Osipyan's persecution is politically motivated, since he did not break the law. Facebook* commentators also spoke out in support of Artur Osipyan.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan used insults and threats during meetings with voters in response to questions from refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh. Afterward, clinic employee Armine Soghoyan, who asked about casualties in the Karabakh wars, was asked to resign, and Artur Osipyan was detained. He is charged with hooliganism, incitement to violence, and obstructing a campaign. On May 20, the court sent him to pretrial detention for two months.
The hour-long protest demanding Osipyan's release was organized at the initiative of the European Party of Armenia. It began today at 1:00 PM (2:00 PM Moscow time), a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reported.
According to Tigran Khzmalyan, founder of the European Party of Armenia, "if a citizen is arrested and jailed after a 10-minute conversation with the country's leader, it means the country is under a dictatorial regime."
"Artur Osipyan has been in prison for a week now; from the very first day of his imprisonment, he declared a hunger strike in Sovetashen prison. Our country remains in Sovetashen, and this is a very dangerous signal. Conscientious people must begin to fight to prevent the country from completely turning into a tyranny," Khzmalyan said.
He noted that the protesters see Osipyan's persecution as a violation of the constitutional rights of an Armenian citizen. "The rights to freedom of speech and freedom of thought have been violated. Today's protest is not an election campaign, but solely a demand to restore constitutional rights of citizens, human rights and freedom. Our protests will be daily because Artur Osipyan is a political prisoner, a fighter, and, most importantly, he is on a hunger strike. It is impossible to remain silent about this," stated Tigran Khzmalyan.
Artur Osipyan's lawyer, David Hovhannisyan, reported that he visited the activist in the pre-trial detention center. He noted that Artur Osipyan continues his hunger strike, "which is affecting his health. Osipyan is being held in a damp cell, deprived of sunlight. All other cells have better conditions," Hovhannisyan said.
The lawyer called on the Armenian Human Rights Defender to intervene in the situation. "An arrested citizen in prison should be deprived of his freedom, not deprived of his health." “Do something so that the prisoners on hunger strike are kept in a cell with at least the same conditions as in other cells, and not in dampness and without sunlight,” Hovhannisyan said. According to the lawyer, Osipyan stated that he “will not end his hunger strike until Nikol Pashinyan apologizes.”
Artur Osipyan headed the opposition Revolutionary Party in Nagorno-Karabakh and was a co-founder of the My Right movement. He is known for fighting against the corrupt system, and during the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, he called for a peaceful march to unblock the Lachin corridor.
Public organizations and figures from Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh issued a statement calling Artur’s arrest Osipyan's arrest was "illegal and disproportionate." Ordinary citizens also joined the statement.
"We express our strong protest against the detention of Artsakh political figure Artur Osipyan and the use of pretrial detention against him, considering it illegal and disproportionate. We also consider unacceptable the question addressed to Artur Osipyan by Nikol Pashinyan, the Civil Contract party's prime ministerial candidate, during an argument: 'Why are you alive and didn't you die instead of our guys?'" "Such populist behavior is a clear example of rhetoric unacceptable for a statesman, which, among other things, deepens domestic political intolerance and disunity among various segments of society, and promotes the stigmatization and dehumanization of entire groups of the population," the statement reads.
According to the authors of the statement, the detention and arrest of Artur Osipyan cast a shadow over the national elections scheduled for June 7 and undermine trust in law enforcement agencies, the electoral process, and the existence of democracy. Furthermore, these events "call into question the ruling party's readiness to respect fundamental human rights and root civic solidarity in the country."
"Artur Osipyan asked Nikol Pashinyan questions, the sincere answers to which are of interest not only to the people of Artsakh but to all of society, as people try to understand the cause-and-effect relationships of the ongoing tragedies of 2020-2023." years, as well as the role of the political elites of Armenia and Artsakh in all of this. It's certainly possible to arrest those who raise difficult and painful questions, but it's impossible to erase the questions themselves, nor to paralyze society's will and desire to get answers. “It is impossible to avoid these issues and the need for discussions around them today, and it will be impossible to avoid this tomorrow,” the document emphasizes.
The signatories of the statement believe that the only way out of the situation is “a civilized dialogue around these issues with various segments of society.” “National elections are an appropriate occasion for this, as they provide incomparably greater opportunities for political forces to contact the people,” they note. The activists called on the Armenian authorities “to take measures as soon as possible to relieve the current tension.”
“The first step towards this could be the immediate release of Artur Osipyan from custody and the termination of his criminal prosecution, as well as the general elimination of the illegal and disproportionate use of criminal instruments in the electoral process,” they noted. The statement was signed by representatives of nine Armenian and Karabakh NGOs, as well as more than 40 individuals, including public figures, journalists, doctors and medical workers, cultural figures, and teachers.