POLITICAL PRISONER?
Carl Kozlowski

Pasadena Weekly, CA
March 15 2007

Former Glendale resident Arman Babajanyan, whose plight as a prisoner
in his native Armenia was reported in the Feb. 15 issue of the Weekly,
is serving a "harsher than is customary" sentence for document forgery
and evasion of military service and may be considered a political
prisoner, according to a March 6 report by the US State Department’s
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.

"Apart from this possible exception, there were no reports of political
prisoners or detainees [in Armenia]," reads that report, one of
several on the human rights practices of nations around the world.

For supporters of Babajanyan, editor of the Glendale-based opposition
newspaper Yerevan Zhamanak, this official recognition of questions
surrounding his detention last June and subsequent sentence of three
years and six months in jail provides some hope.

But, "He still has a difficult road ahead," said Lusine Kalfayan,
a longtime friend.

On Monday, Armenia’s Cassation Court dismissed an appeal of his
sentence, which exceeds

the two years or heavy fines prescribed by law. His next move may be
an appeal to Armenia’s Constitutional Court or the European Union’s
court system, according to a statement by his attorneys.

Babajanyan had gone to Armenia to expand his paper’s circulation there.

Before his arrest, he published articles alleging corruption in
Armenia’s judicial system.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress