13:08, 7 January, 2022

YEREVAN, JANUARY 7, ARMENPRESS. The Syros administrative court released an order according to which prominent Istanbul-Armenian scholar and writer Sevan Nisanyan will be released on January 7.

The Armenian Embassy in Greece reports that Nisanyan must leave Greece voluntarily within 15 days according to the court decision.

“As Sevan Nisanyan is a citizen of Armenia, he can leave for Armenia if he wishes”, the Embassy said.

Sevan Nisanyan was sentenced to 17 years in prison in Turkey in 2014 on charges of illegal construction, a case he claims was punishment for his outspoken views about restrictions on freedom of _expression_ in the country. In 2017 he fled a Turkish prison and asked for a shelter to Greek authorities. Nisanyan is now facing a deportation from Greece as his residency permit was not renewed and he was placed into custody on December 30.