"With Honor": There are no `yours` or `ours` when it comes to  political prisoners

ArmInfo. During a panel discussion on political prisoners in Armenia in  on January 23,  Hayk Mamijanyan, head of the "With Honor" faction, stated that everyone must fight for the rights of political  prisoners, regardless of  their political  leanings. 

He said that the most important thing in the issue of political  prisoners is to understand what can be done to protect their rights.  "They are behind bars because they fought for the freedom of  expression in Armenia.  By defending them, we are defending the  rights of all Armenian citizens," Mamijanyan emphasized.

He also noted that, in addition to domestic reactions and actions,  they also anticipate a comprehensive response from international  structures. In this regard, he recalled the stated position of the  European People's Party (EPP), the International Union of Centrist  Democrats (CDI), and the Council of Europe's Platform for the  Protection of Journalism regarding the arrest of Imnemnimi podcasters  Vazgen Saghatelyan and Narek Samsonyan. However, the opposition  leader called these statements insufficient given the scale of the  current  repressions.

The opposition leader called for more than just written statements  from the international community and foreign diplomats stationed in  Armenia. He suggested that if ambassadors who publicly champion  democracy were to attend court hearings or visit political prisoners  in person, it would send a much stronger signal. "From a humanitarian  standpoint," he concluded, "direct engagement is the only appropriate  response to the current situation."

Recall, on January 20, during a session of the Armenian parliament,  Hayk Mamijanyan, head of the "With Honor" faction, stated that there  are currently more than 50 political prisoners in Armenia. Many of  them were arrested for political reasons, for their stance in defense  of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), which is under attack by the  current authorities, as well as for criticizing the political course  chosen by the ruling regime.

It should be added that the European People's Party (EPP), at the  suggestion of the Armenian side, adopted a resolution confirming the  existence of political prisoners in Armenia. Mamijanyan noted that  the resolution also nominally mentioned the case of Armen Ashotyan,  Deputy Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), whose  pretrial detention was changed from arrest to house arrest and  administrative supervision on August 1, 2025.