Reporters asked Minister of Justice Artak Zeynalyan whether there are or aren’t political prisoners in Armenia, adding that several politicians have announced that they are political prisoners. His evaluation as minister is important.
Zeylanyan responded, “At the moment, I will abstain from giving any evaluations as to whether or not there are political prisoners in Armenia. There is no one who has been illegally imprisoned in Armenia, I will say that. If there is sufficient evidence, even a little bit, to prove that someone should be in prison, then they are in prison. If there is sufficient evidence to prove that someone should be released, then another method of deterrence is chosen, or that person is allowed to be released on bail. This obviously is much different from the way that the former authorities operated. More people are now free and another deterrence method has been chosen for them than there were in the former regime. The reason why I abstain from giving any further evaluations is because people can decide how they wish to be defended and I will not go against them. They believe that that is the best way to defend their rights. Some people believe that the best way is to seek asylum in another country- they are the ones to decide how they will be defended. We are required to uphold the independence of the court, the court processes, and to remain unbiased in order for courts to give their evaluations.”
Reporters asked about if he were to state that there are no political prisoners in Armenia, would that mean he is interfering in their cases? Zeynalyan said, “I have my subjective opinion, but I am a minister and therefore will abstain from giving any evaluations. Ministers of justice, or the former authorities in general, would frequently state that there are no political prisoners. Whether or not someone is a political prisoner is decided by society and by NGOs. You can decide for yourselves whether or not there are political prisoners in Armenia; that is entirely subjective. I will be biased if I answer that question.”
Hripsime Jebejyan
