Political prisoner numbers rising in Armenia amid silence from European institutions, MP says

Armenian opposition lawmaker Tigran Abrahamyan has accused European institutions and international human rights organizations of remaining silent as the number of political prisoners in the country continues to grow.

"The number of political prisoners in Armenia is increasing amid the silence of European institutions and international human rights organizations," Abrahamyan, a member of the opposition Pativ Unem faction, wrote on Facebook on Friday.

He highlighted that opposition politician Armen Ashotyan, deputy chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia, has now spent six weeks in detention.

"This is not simply imprisonment," Abrahamyan said. "It is torture inflicted on a person who has committed no crime but is jailed for his political views."

"Freedom to Armen and all other political prisoners,” the MP added.