How Many Political Prisoners Are There Today in Armenia and Who Are They? A List Published by Constitutional Law Expert Gohar Meloyan

As of today, there are about a dozen political prisoners in Armenia. This was reported by constitutional law expert Gohar Meloyan on her Facebook page. She notably stated, "The 1900th resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe defines the concept of 'political prisoner.' According to the resolution, a person deprived of personal freedom is considered a political prisoner if:

• a. The detention was carried out in violation of any of the fundamental guarantees established by the European Convention on Human Rights and its protocols;
• b. The detention was carried out for obviously political reasons, without any connection to criminal acts;
• c. Based on political motives, the duration or conditions of detention are evidently disproportionate to the crime for which the person has been found guilty or accused;
• d. He/She is held in discriminatory conditions compared to others for political reasons;
• e. The detention is evidently the result of unfair procedures, and this is apparently linked to the political motives of the authorities.

The following individuals are currently imprisoned (the list according to Christine Vardanyan):

1. Aramayis Mkhitaryan
2. Azat Muradyan
3. Aleksan Aleksanyan
4. Gor Sarksyan
5. Gor Matevosyan
6. Taron Manukyan
7. Arsen Martoyan
8. Hosik Sarksyan
9. Gerasim Vardanyan
10. Velikhan Khlygatyan
11. Davit Avagyan
12. Avetik Chalabyan
13. Emma Sarksyan
14. Narek Mantashyan