Lawyer: Armen Ashotyan must be immediately freed from all restraints
Human rights activist Arsen Babayan has welcomed a court order to move opposition politician Armen Ashotyan to house arrest more than one year after his detention.
Ashotyan, a vocal government critic and deputy chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) who served as Armenia’s education minister from 2012-2016, was arrested in June 2023 on charges of abuse of power and money laundering strongly denied by him as politically motivated.
Vahe Dolmazyan, the judge presiding over Ashotyan’s trial, on Tuesday ordered his release from custody on bail of 25 million drams ($64,000).
“I’m glad that Armen Ashotyan will serve his further punishment (I did not mistakenly use the term “punishment”) at home, next to his family. Yes, this condition is significantly different from prison,” Babayan wrote on Facebook.
“But the fact remains that the political persecution against Ashotyan continues and he is still a political prisoner. Ashotyan must be immediately freed from all kinds of restraints,” the lawyer added.