Aram Manukyan: ARFD members want to look more committed to the Republican Party style than the RPA members themselves

 Armenia has never had any political prisoners in the classical meaning of the word other than ARF Dashnaktsutyun members, Armen Rustamyan, Head of the ARFD Faction, said in Parliament, when commenting on the arrest and incarceration conditions of activist Vardges Gaspari.       

"The term "political prisoners" should meet the Council of Europe definition. In this light, Armenia has never had political prisoners in the classical meaning of the word", he said. He added that the ARFD is also concerned about the activist's fate and it has also joined the signature collection campaign among the lawmakers and will consistently control the developments around Gaspari. "As regards the information about the use of violence against the activist, we should find out whether the violence was used by the penitentiary employees or co-prisoners, because these are absolutely different categories and imply different punishments," he said. 

For his part, Aram Manukyan, representative of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) Faction, said that ARFD members want to look even more committed to the Republican Party style than the RPA members themselves.  For his part, Secretary of the Prosperous Armenia Party Faction Vahe Enfiajyan said that Gaspari's freedoms and rights should be protected no matter whether Gaspari is a political prisoner or not.  

Head of the Heritage Party Faction Zaruhi Postanjyan said that Gaspari undergoes violence and pressure at the penitentiary. She thinks this is the result of political persecution by the ruling party. "We should do everything possible to make them set Gaspari free," she said.    

For his part, Head of the RPA Faction Vahram Baghdasaryan said that he had a telephone conversation with Armenian Justice Minister Arpine Hovhannisyan, who said that an expert examination was commissioned. "At our request, a group of observers visited Gaspari. They say that everything is OK with Gaspari," Baghdasaryan said.