SARGIS HATSPANIAN REMAINS IN CUSTODY

argis-hatspanian
September 23, 2009

Sargis Hatspanian, a French-Armenian opposition activist and a hero
of the Artsakh War, remains in captivity.

Remind that some documents certifying that Hatspanian was a Karabakh
war veteran were to be submitted for defendant Hatspanian to be freed
under the amnesty bill of July 19.

Both the Defense Ministry and Justice Ministry said there were no
documents available in their archives certifying to Hatspanian’s
participation in the Karabakh war.

"The legal grounds Hatspanain has are more than sufficient to amnesty
the defendant," says Advocate Robert Revazian.

"The public has no doubts that Hatspanian fought for Karabakh’s
liberalization: there are witnesses and video reports. People assume
that what happens to Hatspanian is a manifestation of political
revenge," says the advocate.

The amnesty is applied to all detainees sentenced to five years’
imprisonment who participated in liberalization wars.

A Yerevan court sentenced Sargis Hatspanian to 3.5 years’ imprisonment
for false denunciation on April 9, 2009.

The arrest followed his interview of November 3, 2008, to opposition
daily Haykakan Zhamanak in which Sargis Hatspanian claimed the head
of state was a target of an imminent assassination attempt.