Authorities Decide to Release Artur Osipyan from Prison

ArmInfo. On the 23rd day of his hunger strike, the supervising prosecutor decided to lift the pretrial detention measure against the well-known public and political figure and head of the Revolutionary Party of Artsakh, Artur Osipyan. According to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Armenia, Osipyan has been released from custody.

The statement notes that the decision was made due to the willingness of several civil society representatives to personally guarantee the accused Artur Osipyan.

As a reminder, Osipyan was detained on May 18 in Yerevan on charges of hooliganism following a verbal altercation with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during an election campaign event for the ruling Civil Contract party. Osipyan had approached the Prime Minister, started asking sharp questions, and expressed his views regarding the reasons behind the loss of Artsakh. He also criticized corruption in the country and other issues within the local political elites.

Following his detention, Osipyan went on an indefinite hunger strike. He refused to meet with a representative of the Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of Armenia.

On June 1, a number of prominent organizations, including international NGOs, appealed to the Council of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights, international organizations, and diplomatic missions, urging them to exert pressure on the Armenian authorities to release Artur Osipyan from prison. They condemned the criminal prosecution and imprisonment imposed on Osipyan, characterizing them as clearly illegal, groundless, and politically motivated.