Activists protest outside Memorial to the Victims of Repression in Yerevan
Activists of the Five Human Rights Defenders Initiative on Tuesday held a protest outside the Memorial to the Victims of Political Repression in Yerevan to denounce the poor human rights records in Armenia.
The protesters put up a symbolic Christmas tree near the memorial. Instead of toys, the Christmas tree was decorated with envelopes telling about victims of political persecution in Armenia.
“The Christmas tree is aimed as raising awareness about political prisoners in Armenia. The government agencies, including the Human Rights Defender’s Office, don’t know these people as they claim no one is known to have been persecuted for political reasons,” said one of the activists, lawyer Ruben Melikyan.