On January 1 at about 1am, opposition activist Gevorg Safaryan was arrested at Yerevan’s Freedom Square during a public gathering organized by members of the New Armenia Movement. Police arrested Safaryan and charged him with using force against the police, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison. On January 3, a court decided that Safaryan would remain in pretrial custody for two months. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has since expressed its concern regarding the case and has called for his release from detention.
In a letter to the Prosecutor general of Armenia, HRW South Caucasus Director Giorgi Gogia stated, “Given the minor nature of the incident, two months of pretrial custody is wholly unjustified. Pretrial detention should be a last resort, not the general rule…” and would interference with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Armenia is a party.
Safaryan’s arrest occurred when he and several others arrived at the heavily-policed square with a man wearing a tree costume and were not permitted to bring the small New Year’s tree into the square. This led to an altercation as seen in this video. According to Safaryan’s lawyer, Yerevan city authorities had been notified in advance about the group’s plans to hold a New Year’s celebration on Freedom.
This is not the first time HRW addresses Armenian authorities regarding Safaryan. Last spring, Gevorg Safaryan and four other activists were arrested on the grounds that they were plotting to provoke violence during a genocide centennial commemoration on April 24, despite their approved and publicized plans to hold a rally. At the time, HRW stated its concern that the activists were “targeted for their peaceful political beliefs” and cited Armenia’s failure to comply by ICCPR provision to uphold the right to freedom of thought, expression and assembly.
Another similar case is the arrest of Bahraini activist Fadhel Radhi, who was detained upon his arrival to the Yerevan airport on his way to Germany to seek political asylum. A number of human rights organizations have expressed concern and appealed to Armenian authorities to validate the credibility of the charges against Radhi before extraditing him back to Bahrain.
Radhi’s detention on January 1 was based on his activism in Bahrain, where he was sentenced to seven years imprisonment following his involvement in the mass protests in 2011.
In a conversation with Civilnet, Artur Sakunts, from the Helsinki Citizen’s Assembly, Vanadzor office said, “There should be no talk of sending Fadhel Radhi back because that would be a breach of Armenian’s commitment to international obligations like the International Convention Against Torture and be in disagreement with Council of Europe values to which Armenia is a member state.”
According to Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tigran Balayan, whether or not Fadhel Radhi will be sent back to Bahrain, “Will be decided by a court ruling.”
