Artsakh NGOs call on Armenian authorities to release Artur Osipyan

ArmInfo. Several Artsakh NGOs and public figures have called on Armenian authorities to cease the  illegal criminal prosecution and use of criminal instruments against Artur Osipyan, head of the Artsakh Revolutionary Party, ahead of Armenia's June parliamentary elections.

According to a statement received by ArmInfo, eight NGOs and more  than four dozen signatories note that the measure applied to Osipyan  is illegal and disproportionate. They also called unacceptable the  question posed to Osipyan by Nikol Pashinyan, the Civil Contract  Party's prime ministerial candidate: "Why are you alive and not dead  instead of our sons?" "Such populist behavior is a clear example of  rhetoric unbecoming of a statesman, which, among other things,  deepens domestic political intolerance and societal division, and  promotes the stigmatization and dehumanization of entire groups of  the population. Osipyan's detention and arrest not only cast a shadow  over the parliamentary elections to be held on June 7, but also, in  all likelihood, undermined trust in law enforcement agencies, the  electoral process, and the existence of democracy as a whole, and  cast doubt on the ruling party's willingness to respect fundamental  human rights and establish civic solidarity in the country," the  statement emphasized.

It is noted that Osipyan asked Pashinyan questions whose answers are  of interest not only to the people of Artsakh but to society as a  whole, as people try to understand the cause-and-effect relationships  of the ongoing tragedies from 2020 to 2023, as well as the role of  the political elite of Armenia and Artsakh in all of this. "Of  course, you can detain someone asking difficult and painful  questions, but you can't negate the questions themselves, nor  paralyze the public's will and desire to receive answers. Today, as  tomorrow, it will be impossible to avoid these questions, as well as  the need to discuss them. The only way out of the current situation  is a civilized dialogue around these issues with various segments of  society, and parliamentary elections are an appropriate occasion for  this, as they provide political forces with incomparably greater  opportunities to communicate with the people," the statement notes.

The organizations signing the statement expressed their conviction  that a political force that speaks about all the troubles, recent  misfortunes, and tragedies with complete sincerity and concern, with  dignity and integrity, with criticism and self-criticism, will have a  better chance of winning the sympathy of the electorate. In this  regard, they emphasize that the most important thing is to create a  peaceful and calm atmosphere for public discussion of national and  state issues. "Because peace begins precisely with people's spiritual  and mental peace. Those who do not understand the value of this inner  peace cannot strive for greater peace, and it is even more absurd to  contribute to peace around us while experiencing internal conflicts.

We call on the Armenian authorities to immediately take measures to  reduce existing tensions, resolve national and state-wide problems  and challenges, and create a favorable atmosphere for constructive  discussion of our misfortunes and tragedies.

The first step could be the immediate release of Artur Osipyan and  the termination of the criminal prosecution against him, as well as  the elimination of the illegal and disproportionate use of criminal  instruments in the electoral process as a whole," the statement  concluded.

The statement was signed by the MediaStep public organization, the  Return to Dizak NGO, the In the Name of Hadrut public organization,  the Return to Karvachar public organization, the Return to Kashatagh  public organization, the Harmony women's public organization of  Shushi, the Tekeyan Cultural Union, the Stepanakert media club, and a  number of public figures.

On May 18, during Pashinyan's election campaign in the Arabkir  administrative district of the capital, Artur Osipyan, head of the  Artsakh Revolutionary Party, approached him. Osipyan accused  Pashinyan of helping Arayik Harutyunyan win the presidency through  corruption. Artsakh. Moreover, he noted that it was Pashinyan who  dissolved the OSCE Minsk Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and  now the Azerbaijani authorities are pushing an agenda of settling  Armenia with Azerbaijanis. These words infuriated Pashinyan, who  began shouting, "Get out of here, you big guy," and "Let the Karabakh  pseudo- elites get out of here altogether." "Go and die instead of  our sons, Artur Osipyans! Plunderers, brutes! Go and die! Why are you  alive, you brute, and even talking about 5,000 dead? Get out, you big  guy!" You should have let them pluck your feathers now."

The situation escalated, and Osipyan was pushed away from Pashinyan.  He was detained later, after Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan showed  Pashinyan a live video of Artur Osipyan's post, made on social media  before the incident: "If anyone knows where Nikol is, tell me - I'll  find him and pluck his feathers." Osipyan was then detained and  sentenced to two months in jail.