Yesterday, six policemen intruded the Adekvad NGO office, handcuffed the head of the organization, Arthur Danielyan and took him to the central police station. Danielyan was kept in the police department for 3 hours, he was examined, his phone and wallet were confiscated. He was accused of threatening to severely harm the prime minister. “Adekvad” party is sure that the persecution against them carries a political character. By the way, two members of the party were arrested two days ago. An incident occurred on Sunday in Garni as well. A person with an obviously criminal background, driving a car without a license plate, had deliberately hit Initiative’s vice president’s car and provoked a quarrel.
Yesterday’s arrest was in the spotlight of almost all media outlets except for the Public Television, “Kentron”, “AR” and “Azatutyun TV”.
We urge the Police of Armenia to refrain from unlawful actions and not to turn political processes into a repression. We ask the Armenian and international human rights organizations to give an appropriate assessment to the Armenian authorities’ violent actions and to prevent the manifestation of impending dictatorship and harsh restrictions on freedom of speech in Armenia. We also call on the media outlets not to refrain from covering legal and political events having such kind of publicity.
