Armenia's largest opposition party, Propserous Armenia Party, has declared that its leader, Gagik Tsarukyan, is now a political prisoner, after a Yerevan Court sentenced him to a two month pre-trail detention on Friday.
After a long legal prosperous Tsarukyan was finally detained by the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction responding to a request from the country's National Security Service. Tsarukyan has been charged with organising vote-buying schemes during elections, a charge he has denied. A number of other opposition figures are similarly being investigated for the same crimes.
In a toughly worded statement the Board of PAP on Saturday morning said that"No solid facts were presented by the court as to how Gagik Tsarukyan obstructed the investigation four months after the charge that was brought [against him]. What happened is obviously political revenge against the leader of the largest parliamentary opposition force and the PAP. It is obvious that Gagik Tsarukyan is now a political prisoner."
"Those who ordered this shameless and cheap revenge against Gagik Tsarukyan and all those who participated in executing it will be punished with the full force of the law; and that is only a matter of a very short time," the PAP statement added.
source: commonspace.eu with agencies
photo: Gagik Tsarukyan (archive picture)
