Following the family’s urgent appeal to the international community regarding his hunger strike, Ruben Vardanyan was allowed to call his family for the first time, after more than two weeks of incommunicado detention.
The family of Ruben Vardanyan, illegally detained in Azerbaijan, announced today that he entered into a hunger strike to demand the immediate and unconditional release of himself and the other Armenian prisoners illegally held in Baku.
Global Humanitarian and Business Leader, Ruben Vardanyan, Demands Immediate and Unconditional Release of All Armenian Prisoners
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined its affiliate in Armenia, the Union of Journalists of Armenia (UJA), in denouncing the authorities’ misuse of anti-hooliganism legislation to suppress press freedom and freedom of expression. The EFJ and UJA demand the immediate release of Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan, co-authors of the podcast “Imnemnimi”, imprisoned for criticising Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Yesterday, during the briefing held in the parliament, Khachatur Sukiasyan, member of the ruling Civil Contract party of the National Assembly, made a number of insulting expressions to the journalist of the Aravot daily Hripsime Jebejyan, targeting the woman, her parents, relatives and the editor-in-chief of the media she represented. Sukiasyan responded with street vocabulary, in an obviously aggressive and threatening tone to the questions that Jebejian, as a journalist conveying public sentiments, addressed to the deputy.
The right of return of Karabakh Armenians is not only a matter of justice and human rights but also essential for promoting peace, stability, and reconciliation in the region. The historic, cultural and religious heritage of Armenian people in Nagorno Karabakh cannot be lost, and this issue shall not be abandoned,” Armen Gevorgyan said.
“The violation of human rights and the decline of democracy are obvious in the Republic of Armenia. In front of the international community, the current government of Armenia pretends to progress in democracy, while grossly violating human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Let’s remind that yesterday citizen Samvel Vardanyan, upon seeing Hakob Aslanyan from the CC of the National Assembly (NA) on public transport, called him “treacherous bastard”, after which the deputy attacked the latter.
— The anatomy of today’s calamity and nightmare is as glaringly evident as a high-resolution MRI scan of the human body. Error upon error by Nikol Pashinyan has cascaded into war and the first partial loss of Nagorno Karabakh.
Last week in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced what has been described as a “landmark plan to help pull Armenia out of Russia’s orbit.”
