Armenian parties urge release of political prisoners, jailed Artsakh leaders

Six Armenian opposition parties have issued a joint appeal to the European Union, urging the immediate release of political prisoners in Armenia and Armenians imprisoned in Azerbaijan, Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Deputy Chairman Armen Ashotyan said on Wednesday.

Addressing reporters outside the EU Delegation office in Yerevan, Ashotyan stressed that parties with divergent ideologies had set aside differences to defend democratic values and national sovereignty. “I cannot recall a time when so many parties, often at odds within Armenia, united to protect citizens whose rights are being trampled and a homeland reduced to a geopolitical bargaining chip,” he said.  

The letter, delivered to EU envoy Vassilis Maragos, was signed by six parties affiliated with major European political families, including the RPA and Heritage Party (European People’s Party), the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Socialists and Democrats), Prosperous Armenia (European Conservatives and Reformists), the Armenian National Congress (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe), and the Democratic Party of Artsakh (European Free Alliance).  

According to Ashotyan, the appeal highlights six priorities: human rights violations, political persecution, pressure on the Armenian Apostolic Church, restrictions on press freedom, the imprisonment of Artsakh political and military leadership in Baku, and the broader plight of Karabakh Armenians.  

“Our demands are straightforward: the immediate release of Armenia’s political prisoners and our compatriots unlawfully held in Azerbaijan,” Ashotyan said, adding that opposition parties had called on EU leaders to confront Armenia’s democratic decline during upcoming European summits.  

The letter has already been circulated to the presidents of the European Council and European Commission, the head of the European Parliament, leaders of parliamentary groups, and governments of EU member states.  

Rejecting suggestions that the protest was anti-European, Ashotyan insisted it was rooted in “pro-freedom, pro-justice, pro-human rights” principles. “This is not hostility toward Europe. On the contrary, it is a struggle for genuine European values,” he said.