Three members of Founding Parliament movement released
Three arrested members of the Founding parliament opposition movement - Zhirayr Sefilyan, Pavel Manukyan and Varuzhan Avetisyan – have been released from the Vardashen penitentiary. Earlier on Monday, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia reported that according to Articles 53, 142 and 151 of Armenia’s Code of Criminal Procedure, the restraint (arrest) imposed on the Founding Parliament members had been mitigated and they would be released on their own recognizance. The five leading members of the opposition group – Zhirayr Sefilyan, Pavel Manukyan, Garegik Chukaszyan, Varuzhan Avetisyan and Gevorg Safaryan – were arrested on April 7 on suspicion of planning to stir up ‘mass disturbances’ at the sites of genocide centenary commemorations on April 24. The arrested oppositionists deny the charges and consider that the government is persecuting them for their political views.
