Ara Saghatelyan is a political prisoner ‘under all PACE criteria’ – lawyer

Ara Saghatelyan is a political prisoner under all the criteria established by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), a lawyer for the former chief of the National Assembly’s staff said today, citing a 2012 resolution affirming the definition of concept.

In a public post on Facebook advocate noted that the criteria, adopted back in 2010, treat an individual as a political prisoner provided he or she was arrestec in breach of any of the rights/liberties guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights and the additional protocols thereto (particularly those dealing with the freedom of conscience, thought, liberty, religion, expression, information, assembly and association).

“The availability of those criteria with respect to Saghatelyan is proven in a more than justified manner, given especially his objective criticism voiced against the authorities over the recent period. That person’s arrest had solely political motives, being absolutely unrelated to a criminal offense.

“Considering the insufficiency, to say the least, of the circumstances behind the criminal case launched by the inquest body, and their inability to prove Saghatelyan’s involvement in the management of a specific fake [social media] account, the presence of that criterion is also outstandingly pertinent to the case,” he said, questioning also the timeframes and conditions of the politically motivated arrest.

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