"Strong Armenia" bloc critical of arrest of Areknaz Manukyan, calling  it political persecution

ArmInfo. Samvel Karapetyan's "Strong Armenia" bloc sharply criticized the arrest of Mother Armenia party political council member and former Armenian parliament member  Areknaz Manukyan, calling it political persecution.

For example, Marianna Kahramanyan, press secretary for the "Strong  Armenia" bloc, stated in a Facebook post that the decision to detain  Areknaz Manukyan is yet another disproportionate and reprehensible  step, yet another politically motivated prosecution.

"The current government has long used detention as a punitive measure  and did not hesitate to use it against a female activist with a minor  child," wrote the political party's spokesperson.

In turn, Arega Hovsepyan, a member of the opposition political party,  wrote that Armenia has another female political prisoner in the  person of Aregnaz Manukyan.

"We, Armenians, have previously confidently and rightly criticized  the Turkish and Azerbaijani authorities for political persecution,  selective justice, and human rights violations. Who would have  thought that such a situation would arise in Armenia? Armenia is a  party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,  the European Convention on Human Rights, and the UN Convention on the  Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. These  international treaties guarantee the liberty and security of every  person, the right to a fair trial, freedom of expression, freedom of  peaceful assembly and association, as well as equal protection before  the law without discrimination," Hovsepyan recalled.

According to her, all of these treaties also obligate the state to  eliminate arbitrary deprivation of liberty, abuse of criminal  prosecution, and any form of discrimination, including on the basis  of political opinion or participation in public and political life,  which we observe daily in Armenia.

Hovsepyan noted that the UN Committee on the Elimination of  Discrimination against Women has repeatedly emphasized that states  are obligated to protect women from politically motivated oppression,  ensure equal access to justice, and eliminate any discrimination in  the application of criminal law.

"However, under the rule of Nikol the Falsifier (Armenian Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan - ed.), who 'strives for Europe,' criminal  prosecution is used as a tool to pressure political opponents, and a  preventative measure has become a form of punishment even before a  verdict is issued; freedom is limited not by the need for justice,  but by political expediency, or more precisely, by the whim of one  person. This is no longer a matter of domestic politics, but a matter  of protecting fundamental human rights enshrined in the European  Convention on Human Rights. This is a matter of Armenia's failure to  fulfill its international obligations," she wrote.

Another member of the political party, legal scholar Goyar Meloyan,  also responded to Manukyan's arrest, noting that the "bastion of  democracy" now has another female political prisoner.

"The detention of Aregnaz Manukyan is not a legal decision, but a  political message. When the government responds to criticism with  detention, justice becomes an instrument of political vengeance.  Several weeks ago, her apartment was searched, after which she could  not avoid possible criminal prosecution.  Furthermore, she is the  mother of a minor child, which is another factor in refusing to  impose the strictest preventive measures.

Aregnaz Manukyan is a political prisoner, and the disproportionate  preventive measure applied to her- pretrial detention-is yet another  blow to the rule of law. "Political dissent is not a crime, and  silencing an opponent is not justice," Meloyan concluded.

As a reminder, according to the Investigative Committee, a public  criminal prosecution has been initiated against Aregnaz Manukyan  under Part 1 of Article 427 of the Criminal Code (disclosure of  information containing a state secret). The investigative actions  were carried out as part of a criminal case on espionage and treason,  in which Andranik Tevanyan, leader of the Mother Armenia party, was  previously arrested.  Manukyan is suspected of passing classified  information regarding the Armenian Armed Forces to Tevanyan, which  was presented at a closed parliamentary meeting. Following the  court's decision, Manukyan was placed under two months' arrest on  July 9.