12 May 2008, 18:27
Armenian human rights activist ask PACE Chairman to interfere into the situation in the country
The Vanadzor Branch of the Helsinki Civil Assembly has sent a letter to Lluis Maria de Puig, President of the PACE, stating that from the moment of passing PACE Resolution No. 1609 "Operation of Democratic Institutes in Armenia", almost a month has expired, however, the citizens arrested for their political views, are still in custody.
The letter notes that the investigatory actions in the cases of the political prisoners allegedly accused of criminal offences are either not conducted at all or carried out with violent pressure, falsifications and fictitious evidences.
The document further runs: "Even now, citizens are still detained, taken away illegally to unknown places and kept in custody. Even slightest public activity entails open demonstration of police force that is a direct psychological pressure on citizens. Detention terms are illegally extended by the courts without any grounds, just with the aim to keep oppositional leaders and activists behind the bars."
Human rights activists state that "...So far, the State Office of Public Prosecutor of Armenia has failed, unlike initiating criminal cases against political prisoners, to present any data about the ten citizens of Armenia who perished on March 1. At the same time, not a single criminal case has ever been initiated against a policeman or employee of any other law enforcement body."
Author: Lilit Ovanisyan, CK correspondent
