Armenia’s authorities are guided by criminal rules instead of laws, says rights organization

A Los Angeles-based human rights organization has issued a statement, condemning the recent incident that happened to the jailed Chief Editor of local Armenian daily Haykakan Zhamanak (Armenian Time) Nikol Pashinyan.

Armenian media reported last week that Nikol Pashinyan, who serves his sentence in Nubarashen penitentiary in Aragatsotn marz (province) and who reportedly implements his editorial activities from there, was threatened to stop it.

“Calls by our organization, as well as hundreds of other human rights, social-political organizations to stop political persecutions in Armenia and release all the political prisoners have up to day remained unimplemented. Even more, the authorities, by using all the measures and opportunities available at their hand, continue [political] per suctions towards citizens and any journalists, who display independence,” reads the statement released by Armenian Civic Society, Human Rights Defense NGO.

Further it says that what happened to Nikol Pashinyan testifies to the fact that the ruling authorities are “guided not by the laws, but rather by the rules of the criminal world.”

“What has been done towards Nikol Pashinyan is a proof that the ruling authorities are headed not by the laws, but by the rules of the criminal world,” reads the statement.

The authors of the statement further require that Armenia’s authorities stop all the actions related to Nikol Pashinyan’s political views and aimed at making him quit his journalistic activities, conduct independent investigation into all the encroachments with the participation of all the interested parties, as well as to immediately set him free.