OPPOSITION: ARMENIA’S PENAL INSTITUTIONS REGIME’S BUSINESS UNITS
news.am
Feb 25 2010
Armenia
Armenia’s penal institutions are serious business units serving the
incumbent regime. It is no coincidence that the Armenian Minister of
Justice and chiefs of penal institutions rank among millionaires,
the former political prisoner, Chairman of the Democratic Homeland
Party Petros Makeyan stated at a panel discussion "Political views
in Armenia."
He pointed out that political prisoners are not at all protected in
Armenia. Moreover, their fate is "in the king pins’ hands."
"They are doing their best to earn as much money as possible — this
is the real worth of Armenia’s penal institutions. Especially now
that this wolf Ashot Giziryan is ordering about there," Makeyan said.
In his turn, the former minister of foreign affairs and political
prisoner Alexander Arzumanyan said: "At present, Armenia’s judicial
system is a criminal gang performing punitive functions."
The former political prisoner Grigor Voskerchyan pointed out that "lazy
and illiterate investigators" are working at Armenia’s prosecutor’s
offices. "It was only two months after I was arrested that trumped
up charges were brought against me," he said. Voskerchyan added that
investigators are "reluctant to probe or prove, but they only plant
bugs and then bring charges against you."