Poll: 71.5% believe Samvel Karapetyan is a political prisoner

A new survey shows that 62% of Armenians believe there are political prisoners in the country, according to data presented by Aram Navasardyan, head of MPG LLC, the representative of Gallup International Association in Armenia. The telephone poll was conducted between August 25 and 30.

When asked specifically whom they consider a political prisoner, 71.5% of respondents named businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan. Other figures mentioned were Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan (38.5%), Archbishop Mikayel Ajapahyan (37.8%), former education minister Armen Ashotyan (9.6%) and political activist Varuzhan Avetisyan (4.1%).

Overall, 12.6% of respondents viewed Karapetyan’s arrest “completely positively”, 5.9% “rather positively”, 16.4% “rather negatively” and 45% “completely negatively”, while 17% found it difficult to answer.

Navasardyan highlighted that this is the highest recorded figure in the past three years regarding perceptions of political prisoners in Armenia, calling the trend “regrettable”.