Journalists and editors from several Armenian media outlets have held a press conference to demand the immediate release of their jailed colleague Nikol Pashinian, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports.
The editors of the newspapers "Aravot" and "Hraparak," the websites hetq.am and Armenia Today, as well as the director of the embattled television station A1+ said on November 18 that Pashinian is being harassed and his rights abused in prison.
They added that Pashinian's imprisonment is questionable and the conditions he faces in jail prove the case against him was politically motivated.
Pashinian, the editor of the pro-opposition daily "Haykakan Zhamanak," was sentenced earlier this year to seven years in jail for his role in the 2008 postelection unrest in Yerevan, a sentence both he and the opposition consider politically motivated.
A general amnesty declared by the government last year means he will serve half of that sentence.
Pashinian alleged last week that two masked men woke and hit him during the night in his cell at the Kosh prison near Yerevan. Both the prison administration and Justice Ministry deny that allegation.
The editors told journalists that they will continue to demand Pashinian's release.
Read more in Russian.
Read more in Armenian.
The editors of the newspapers "Aravot" and "Hraparak," the websites hetq.am and Armenia Today, as well as the director of the embattled television station A1+ said on November 18 that Pashinian is being harassed and his rights abused in prison.
They added that Pashinian's imprisonment is questionable and the conditions he faces in jail prove the case against him was politically motivated.
Pashinian, the editor of the pro-opposition daily "Haykakan Zhamanak," was sentenced earlier this year to seven years in jail for his role in the 2008 postelection unrest in Yerevan, a sentence both he and the opposition consider politically motivated.
A general amnesty declared by the government last year means he will serve half of that sentence.
Pashinian alleged last week that two masked men woke and hit him during the night in his cell at the Kosh prison near Yerevan. Both the prison administration and Justice Ministry deny that allegation.
The editors told journalists that they will continue to demand Pashinian's release.
Read more in Russian.
Read more in Armenian.
