Armenian MP calls for release of detained opposition podcasters as hunger strike enters third day

Opposition MP Tigran Abrahamyan has called for the release of detained activists and podcasters Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan, as Samsonyan’s hunger strike entered its third day on Monday.

In a Facebook post, Abrahamyan, secretary of the Pativ Unem faction in the Armenian parliament, said Samsonyan is being held in solitary confinement, enduring hardships. He noted that while many consider his hunger strike an extreme form of protest, Armenia’s current political climate leaves detainees with few effective alternatives.

“Under the authoritarian rule that has taken shape in the country and the rules imposed by those in power, it is not always possible to rely solely on classical forms of struggle,” Abrahamyan wrote, describing hunger strikes as one of the remaining means of protest. He wished Samsonyan “health, strength, and strong nerves,” and renewed calls for the release of Samsonyan, Saghatelyan, and what he described as other political prisoners in Armenia.

Samsonyan and Saghatelyan, co-hosts of the Imnemnimi podcast, were detained in mid-November on hooliganism charges widely criticized by experts and human rights groups as politically motivated. On January 9, a Yerevan court extended their pre-trial detention by three months. Samsonyan announced an indefinite hunger strike in protest against the decision.