AUTHORITIES URGED TO PARDON JAILED JOURNALIST WITH BRAIN TUMOUR
Reporteros sin Fronteras
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Reporters Without Borders
July 31 2009
Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the refusal of the Armenian
authorities to release journalist Arman Babajanian(photo Armtown.com)
on health grounds. Held since 2006, Babajanian has been diagnosed as
having a brain tumour. His condition recently worsened and he is now
in a prison hospital. He is in the process of losing his sight and
needs urgent hospitalisation.
"We are extremely shocked by the attitude of the authorities, who
have turned a deaf ear to the appeals of doctors and human rights
activists," Reporters Without Borders said. "Babajanian has nearly
completed his sentence so we fail to understand why they insist on
keeping him in prison. His condition is serious and the tumour could
leave him handicapped for life."
Reporters Without Borders has written to President Serzh Sargsyan
urging him to pardon Babajanian.
Babajanian has been held since 26 June 2006, when he was arrested on a
charge of evading military service under article 327 of the criminal
code. The three-and-a-half-year sentence he received was condemned
at the time by Reporters Without Borders as "disproportionate". He
is due to complete it at the start of September. All of his lawyer’s
requests for early release have been rejected.
The founder and editor of Jamanak Yerevan, a daily published in
Yerevan and Los Angeles. Babajanian was critical of the government. An
article published in the newspaper on 13 July 2006, two and a half
weeks after his arrest, referred to the highly sensitive subject of
Armenia’s dispute since 1994 with neighbouring Azerbaijan over the
Upper Karabakh region. It was headlined "Peace is the only solution."
An opposition demonstration was held under the banner of "Freedom!" in
Yerevan on 29 July to demand Babajanian’s immediate release.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
