Presidents of three countries urged to compel Armenian authorities to respect rights and freedoms of citizens

The letter reads:

“Nikol Pashinyan, who voluntarily presented himself to the Prosecutor’s Office on July 1, 2009, is kept in prison till today without any basis and presently will be brought before the court under false accusations for organizing mass disorders.

“Hundreds of legal proceedings have taken place in Armenia. You can be informed about those shameful proceedings from your countries’ ambassadors and competent international organizations.

“The recorded outcome thus far is as follows:

1. So far, no murderer has been brought to account for his actions before the court,
2. The opposition’s charge against the current governing leadership for seizing power was dismissed,
3. 30 political prisoners were released as a result of pressure from the opposition and international organizations,
4. 17 political prisoners, one of whom is a French citizen, are still imprisoned,
5. Many innocent prisoners, who have exhausted all instances for attaining justice in their own country, attempt to attain justice through the European Court of Human Rights.

“Today, your countries direct their joint efforts toward the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the establishment of Armenian-Turkish relations; however, by strange coincidence, your countries’ and international organizations’ pressure on Serzh Sargsyan’s administration directed to re-establishment of democracy and release of political prisoners has stopped altogether. This fact creates grounds for us and a large mass of the Armenian people to doubt the sincerity of your intentions; it gives the impression that an unethical deal has taken place and that you turn a blind eye to gross human rights violations and to obvious violations of democracy in order to get concessions from Sargsyan’s administration.

“Proceeding from that which was mentioned above, on behalf of Republic of Armenia citizens, thousands of innocent victims’ relatives, political prisoners suffering in prisons, and those suffering from the regime’s tyranny and political persecution, we ask and demand you to use your countries’ and your own authority to compel Armenia’s current leadership to respect the rights and freedoms of their own citizens.”

/Tert.am/