Are Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan political prisoners? -  International Center on Development of Parliamentarism 

ArmInfo. A month has passed since the co-authors of the "Imnemimi" podcast, opposition public 

figures Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan were illegally detained. the International Center on Development of Parliamentarism reported on its Facebook account.

According to the source, the political motivation to deprive them of 

their freedom is not denied even by the current authorities. So, on 

March 22 of this year, Samsonyan and Saghatelyan were detained and 

then arrested on charges of hooliganism. Moreover, the process of 

detention itself was carried out with the use of force, degrading the 

dignity and personal integrity of a person, with the use of extremely 

unreasonable and disproportionate violence.

According to the criminal prosecution initiated, Samsonyan and 

Saghatelyan are accused of committing a crime under Article 297 of 

the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia (hooliganism), that is, 

using information and communication technologies to show disrespect 

for society or open disdain for legal or moral norms. "The same norms 

that were demonstrated by humiliating a person and using obscene 

language addressed to them," the message says.

The source added that it is obvious to an unbiased observer that the 

editing of the mentioned crime is a primitive reproduction of the 

well-known crime of "serious crime", added to the RA Criminal Code by 

the ruling political force in July 2021 and then removed under 

international pressure, the purpose of which is to arbitrarily punish 

citizens who criticize the government.

"As a result of the mentioned simple legislative tricks, the ruling 

political power, apparently, tried to circumvent the requirement 

attributed to it by international structures regarding the 

fundamental rights of freedom of speech and information, and on the 

other hand, continue to punish oppositionists who criticize it with 

the help of criminal legal instruments. Samsonyan's arrest and 

Saghatelyan is obvious evidence of this goal. Moreover, this 

interpretation of this crime is in direct contradiction with the case 

law established by the European Court of Human Rights, according to 

which the permissible limits of critical statements against officials 

are much wider. In particular, in the Linges case. v. Austria" the 

ECtHR stated that the limits of permissible/acceptable criticism are 

wider than in the case of private individuals. These people 

inevitably and deliberately expose themselves to increased attention 

from journalists and the general public for their every statement and 

action and are therefore obliged to show a higher degree of tolerance 

. In the case of Gundem v. Turkey, the ECtHR stated that the 

authorities of a democratic state must tolerate criticism, even if it 

is provocative or offensive. In the case of Rodriguez v. Portugal, 

the ECtHR noted that the permissible limits of criticism of a public 

figure are wider than in the case of private individuals. In the case 

"Dalban v. Romania," the ECHR found it admissible to accuse the 

politician of corruption and misuse of public funds," the report 

emphasizes.

Its authors recall that on October 3, 2012, the Parliamentary 

Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted Resolution 1900, defining 

the concept of "political prisoner." According to the resolution, a 

person deprived of personal liberty is considered a political 

prisoner if the detention was applied in violation of any of the 

fundamental guarantees defined by the European Convention on Human 

Rights and its protocols.  In the case of Samsonyan, the method of 

his detention, which humiliates his dignity and personal integrity, 

confirms the presence of this criterion. Moreover, it is obvious that 

if the detention of Saghatelyan had not been followed in 

chronological order by the publication of a video recording of 

Samsonyan's shameful imprisonment and its harsh criticism from human 

rights activists. A political prisoner is also a person whose length 

of detention is clearly disproportionate to the crime for which the 

person was found guilty.

Samsonyan and Saghatelyan were detained by law enforcement officers 

on March 22. Moreover, Samsonyan was detained with the use of brutal 

disproportionate force, degrading human dignity. Later it became 

known that Samsonyan was detained as part of a case being 

investigated by the Investigative Committee under the article 

"hooliganism committed by a group of persons using information 

technology." As it turned out, the hosts of the "Imnemnim" podcast 

were detained for voicing obscene language against Armenian Prime 

Minister Nikol Pashinyan live. Both journalists are now under arrest.