The Group of Public Observers Conducting Public Monitoring of Penitentiary Institutions and Bodies of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia has recorded that the administration of the «Artik» penitentiary institution violates the rights of the Editor of «Haykakan Zhamanak» daily Nikol Pashinyan to correspondence and submission of applications and complaints.

The Group of Public Observers has submitted the ad hoc report to the Minister of Justice Hrayr Tovmasyan and the Minister responded by disseminating the press-release. When the three-day term for obtaining the written reply defined by law was expired and written reply was not obtained, the Group called the press conference on February 17 and made the report public. The report was translated and sent to the OSCE Office and to the Commissioner on Human Right of the Council of Europe Thomas Hammerberg.   

 "Yesterday the Criminal Executive Department of the RA Ministry of Justice said in its letter that in January Nikol Pashinayn has sent 9 letters. On January 9, one of the letters was registered in our presence in the custody records, remaining 8 letters were accepted in the presence of the Commissioner on Human Right of the Council of Europe Thomas Hammerberg. It means that Nikol Pashinyan's letters are accepted and registered either in the presence of the Commissioner on Human Right of the Council of Europe Thomas Hammerberg or in the presence of the Group of Public Observers. However now even in the presence of the Group those letters are not accepted", says Head of the Group Artur Sakunts.

Member of the Group, a human rights defender Edmon Maruqyan says that every time when Pashinyan is going to meet his defense lawyer, he is being searched and is not allowed to take papers and hand it to the lawyer. "The lawyers have a right to meet with their clients without restrictions, pass the documents concerning his defense and no interference from the public authorities is allowed. Any interference will be considered as the violation of the right to defense as well as violation of the accessibility of the court", says Maruqyan.

Artur Sakunts told the journalists that after the last visit of the Group of Public Observers Nikol Pashinyan's cell was searched. Pashinyan informed Sakunts about that during the break of the hearing at the Court of Appeal. "It means that the administration had doubts that the observers could have passed something to the prisoner. It is disrespectful way to work and aims at casting the shadow on the Group of Public Observers. There is no ground, no any single suspect for that", concluded Sakunts. Edmon Maruqyan added that within 6 years of the Groups' operation no any such case was recorded and this approach has the goal to undermine the trust towards the Group and to dissolve it.

What is the reason for such treatment towards Pashinyan? Artur Sakunts answered the following to the journalists: "The reason is the Articles. Nikol Pashinyan as the journalist has his own opinion and publishes his opinion. As a matter of fact, by violation of the right to correspondence, the right to freedom of expression is violated as well. Nikol Pashinyan is not an ordinary convict because he was convicted without grounds (it is my personal opinion), the political prisoner, convicted for his views and beliefs should not stay in the penitentiary institution, the Penitentiary institutions are in the weird situation now, they do not know how to act with this kind of prisoners and give political orders which is out of legal field."

It is worthy to mention that the RA Ministry of Justice came up with the statement on this issue.

Mary Alexanyan

Source www.hra.am