A call for justice for Armenian opposition journalist

Thursday, December 30, 2010
VERCÝHAN ZÝFLÝOÐLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

Nikol Pashinian waves outside a court room.

The European Court of Human Rights accepted earlier this month an appeal to review the case of Armenian opposition activist and former newspaper editor-in-chief Nikol Pashinian, his lawyer Vahe Grigoryan and wife Anna Hakopian-Pashinian said.

Grigoryan and Hakopian-Pashinian filed suit at the Strasbourg court against Nikol Pashinian’s unjust prosecution, prison conditions and limitations to visiting hours.

Pashinian was arrested in 2009 on charges of inciting violence against the authorities and organizing mass unrest on March 1, following a February 2008 election.

He was convicted by an Armenian court in January and ordered to serve a 7 year sentence. He is currently being held in Artik prison.

Pashinian, 35, is the editor-in-chief of the daily Haykakan Zhamanak (The Armenian Times), a popular daily known for its support for Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosian, and has written a number of severely critical articles about President Serge Sarkisian and his predecessor Robert Kocharian.

Grigoryan told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review in an email interview that the case against Pashinian openly violates principles upheld by the ECHR and Article 18 of the Armenian Constitution.

“I am not even allowed to see my client alone to discuss the course of the trial. This is an open violation of human rights,” he said.

Hakopian-Pashinian alleged that her husband had been assaulted in prison several times in the last two months by masked people. Hakopian-Pashinian said she feared for his life, adding that she had only been allowed to see her husband once a month for four hours.

Arsen Babaian from the Ministry of Justice’s Penal Department and Edward Sharmazonav, a prominent figure in President Serge Sarkisian’s Republican Party, failed to respond to questions from the Daily News regarding Pashinian’s case.

Hakopian-Pashinian said her husband went into hiding following the protests but turned himself in after 16 months. Answering a question about why he hid in the first place if was innocent, Hakopian-Pashinian said, “There was a death warrant issued against him. That’s why he had to hide. His life was in danger.”

Her husband’s situation was proof of the crippled state of Armenian democracy and how human rights and the freedom of speech are persecuted in the country for the political ends of the few, she said, adding that many international institutions, including a number in the European Union, are actively taking part in efforts to achieve his release.

The court case was “political,” Grigoryan said. “We are determined to continue our struggle until the very end.”