Today is a shameful day, every day is shameful, when we have political prisoners. It’s a shame for the entire nation, which tolerates the imprisonment of its talented children for the sake of the future, faith, and dignity of this same people. This was stated by RPA Vice Chairman Armen Ashotyan during a protest in front of the National Assembly building.
“We must also shame the European structures, but let’s honestly admit that the first bearers of this shame are we, the Armenian people, who have so far failed not only to replace this shameful government but also to free our best children from prison,” he noted during the RPA protest. They demand the release of political prisoners of the Republic of Armenia and Armenian captives in Baku.
He called on protesters to take photographs of political prisoners and Armenian captives to a busy street so that everyone could see and understand that they are unable to ensure the freedom of the people depicted in the photographs. Ashotyan then suggested taking the photographs to the National Assembly building.
“This building now houses the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights. Twenty-five years ago, Armenia joined the Council of Europe. Back then, we hoped that the path of European integration, no matter how difficult, would bring freedom, dignity, equality, and prosperity to our country. Twenty-five years later, we are proving that all of this was a hype, a lie, a cynicism.
European institutions, from the European Council to the European Commission, from the European Parliament to the European Ombudsman, are blind, deaf, and dumb when it comes to protecting the values they themselves proclaim and preach in the Republic of Armenia,” he said.