Political prisoner Volodya Avetisyan submits another open letter; the demands are the same
16:10, July 21, 2016 | News, Own news | Detention Facilities, Political Prisoners
Within the past 2 month, political prisoner Volodya Avetisyan has already submitted his second open letter to the competent state agencies on early release on parole and replacing the non-served part of the sentence with a lighter sentence.
Below is the full letter.
To: Mr. A. Osikyan,
Head of the RA MoJ Penitentiary Department,
General-Major of Justice,
From: Volodya Avetisyan,
Convict at ‘Vardashen’ Penitentiary
Open Letter
Dear Mr. Osikyan, on June 18, I sent an open letter to the RA National Assembly deputies, the Human Rights Defender and high officials in judiciary by raising a number of issues on the mass infringements on convicts’ rights within the administration of justice. In particular, I meant the processes of early release on parole and replacing the non-served part of the sentence with a lighter sentence.
I received a written reply to my letter from the Penitentiary Department stating that the issues raised were regulated by the relevant articles of the RA Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes, RA Presidential Decrees, etc (that’s all the reply letter stated).
Dear Mr. Osikyan, both me and thousands of convicts are well aware of the Codes and Decrees above; there is no need to remind us of them; instead, we need a clear-cut answer on why such laws have not been applied for years or are applied only for a few persons on a selective basis. But everyone shall be equal before the law (RA Constitution), shall not they?
You are well-aware that only 1% of the convicts applying for early release on parole
“pass through the sword” of the so-called “independent” commission, and the others are left out from that process for completely incomprehensible reasons. In fact, the commission members have absolute distrust in not only the convicts none of whom they know in person, but also in the officers in charge of the penitentiary facilities who issue positive references on them.
Dear Mr. Osikyan, our deep conviction is that the rapid resolution of the raised issues is not only a matter of protecting the rights of thousands of convicts but also a matter of honor for the whole system.
We hereby hope that the promises in this regard of the RA Minister of Justice and other officials will not remain on their shelves as their final destination.
V. Avetisyan
For the handwritten version of the open letter, see here.