Political prisoner Narek Samsonyan wrote an article from the Armavir Penitentiary.
“Good evening, those who love us dearly, and especially those who don’t. As you already know, Vazgen and I are facing another round of political persecution. This time, the absurdity of the “case” is ten times greater, and the scale of the repressions hasn’t been limited to us, but has reached the point of effectively shutting down the AntiFake.am website. Yes, my dears, the leader of the “hyenas” group, who until now has been making fiery speeches about shutting down the A1+ channel, yesterday effectively suspended the activities of AntiFake.am, confiscating all equipment, including speakers, tripods, and cameras. This is a new phase of repression against freedom of speech and the press by Nikolyan’s “hyena” gang, which will certainly be included in the future volumes of the “hyena” gang’s criminal cases.
I would like to briefly address the charges, namely the “crime” imputed to me: I am accused of hooliganism, expressed by the use of the word “buttocks.” Investigator Gor Davtyan deemed the word “buttocks” part of the crime of “hooliganism,” and today I am in the Armavir penal system for this very word. I am recounting this brief episode so you can imagine the cowardice of the swindler who publicly called us “puppies” and received a public response the next day, and how the RA investigative bodies are held hostage by them, constantly demeaning their professional reputation. However, this episode does not change Alen Simonyan’s moral and political character; it merely adds another episode to it, one level lower than what has already been done. In addition to arresting Vazgen and me and confiscating AntiFake.am’s equipment, this gang of hyenas arrested my teammates, in this case, comrades in arms – journalist David Fidanyan and my assistant, as well as cameraman Ishkhan Khosrovyan. Ishkhan Khosrovyan is currently at large. I’m sure the guys consider it a great honor to be subjected to repression by this gang of hyenas and don’t need words of support, but I would like to wish strength and courage to David’s family members and express my and our team’s unwavering support. I am certain their arrests are aimed at hindering our media activities, which we will not allow. I would also like to thank the lawyers who defended David and Ishkhan, Varazdat Harutyunyan and Carlos Avagyan.
I would also like to thank our team and all the people and organizations that have supported us over the past two days, especially Samvel Tadevosyan, who personally purchased the necessary technical equipment to continue AntiFake.am’s work. As for our other sponsors, I am deeply touched by your support and willingness, and I am confident that you will now support/sponsor our team with even greater enthusiasm.
About us and our families: I am sure you have no doubt that we are taking all necessary measures. We do this with a smile, and this only makes us stronger and more resilient. Our families are not afraid of this and do not break. I assure you all that our families—from parents and wives to small children—stand by us more faithfully than anyone else. We all understand why we are enduring these hardships, and in the future, history will judge us, our families, and that group of hyenas—investigators, prosecutors, and judges—who are subjecting us to repression. At least I know I’ll always look my children in the eye with my head held high. I don’t know, for example, what those who signed this criminal-political absurdity will tell their children, but I know exactly what I’ll tell my children. Hang in there and continue to fight the patriotism and treasonous actions of this bunch of hyenas. Our generations must not lose their homeland.
P.S. I’ve been informed that ArmComedy’s Sunday broadcast hasn’t been officially canceled yet. Let me remind you that on Sunday, ArmComedy hosted Alen Simonyan, the guy whose false accusation led to the arrest of AntiFake.am journalists. We were detained for two months, and AntiFake.am was shut down. After all this, I’ll have to think about giving Alen Simonyan a broadcast as a justification for what happened to us and the actions of this scoundrel. I hope our partners will take these obvious facts into account and not pollute their airwaves by giving airtime to a scoundrel who scolds people and, upon receiving a response, catches them and shuts down their media outlets.