Reporter accuses Armenian authorities of crackdown on dissent

Chairman of the Civic Consciousness NGO, founder of AntiFake.am media outlet, political prisoner Narek Samsonyan wrote an open letter-inquiry to U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Kristina Kvien from the Armavir State Penitentiary.

The AntiFake editorial staff and supporters of arrested activists Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan, co-hosts of the Imnemnimi podcast, gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan on Friday to hand over the letter to the ambassador.

"The U.S. claims to be a pioneer of democracy. We’ve gathered outside the embassy today to show that Armenia is moving far away from the path sought by the international structures, foundations and organizations,” journalist David Fidanyan told reporters.

“Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has formed an authoritarian regime in Armenia where people face arrest for sharp criticism.”

The reporter charged that the U.S. ambassador lacked knowledge of the criminal case involving Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan who were remanded in pre-trial custody for two months for using profanity to criticize Nikol Pashinyan and his government last week.

“They were detained under the article on grave insults, which was decriminalized by the Armenian authorities following pressure from the West. However, in the case of Samsonyan and Saghatelyan, we see that the article has been revived and its content has been wrapped in the article on ‘hooliganism’,” Fidanyan said.

The journalist claims the Armenian authorities thus deceive the international community, using the decriminalized article to crack down on the dissent and silence opposition voices.