Lidiya Mantashyan is the only female political prisoner in Armenia, who has been deprived of not only her freedom but also the right to a simple visit for five months. Mane Tandilyan, chair of the “Country for Life” party, wrote about this on her Facebook page.
“Lidiya is being subjected to purely political persecution, which no longer rules out any notion of judicial independence.
Such disgusting behavior demonstrates the lack of human qualities on the part of the authorities and a number of law enforcement and judicial officials attached to them.
Freedom for Lidiya and other political prisoners,” she wrote.
In turn, human rights activist Zaruhi Hovhannisyan wrote: “Of course, I do not and will not understand the court’s decision to keep Lidiya Mantashyan in custody for another three months, and de facto a woman, until 2026.” She should remain in prison on February 25, and why?
I’ve written and raised the issue of the systemic problem of pretrial detention in Armenia many times, where the number of people held in penitentiary institutions exceeds the number of convicted prisoners. It’s a systemic problem, but the targeted and consistent persecution of this particular woman is simply unacceptable.
It’s also worth noting that she is the only woman facing the same case, and there are other men whose pretrial detention has been replaced with house arrest.
Unfortunately, if an investigator arrests a woman, even visits are restricted, and it’s impossible to meet with her.