Armenian parliament majority blocks debate on political prisoners

Lawmakers from Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party on Tuesday blocked a parliament debate on a draft statement calling for the protection and release of political prisoners.

Introducing the document at a parliament session, opposition MP Elinar Vardanyan stated that political prisoners exist in Armenia, describing detentions as a tool of political persecution and intimidation. She stressed clergy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, journalists, lawmakers, bloggers and civic activists were being targeted for political reasons.

The draft statement expressed solidarity with political prisoners and their families, urged courts to comply with applicable laws, called on the human rights defender to address the issue and demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners.

Civil Contract MP Vladimir Vardanyan, head of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, rejected the initiative, saying the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe had made no reference to political prisoners in Armenia, and therefore no such problem existed. He warned that adopting the statement would imply the dismissal of the chief prosecutor and law enforcement officials.

“Do you want to put an equal sign between Armenia and countries where there are thousands of political prisoners?” he said.

Following the debate, Civil Contract MPs voted against the inclusion of the draft statement on the parliament agenda.