“You are trampling on the presumption of innocence at the cost of people’s lives”: Vardevanyan on Arsen Gevorgyan’s death

Aram Vardevanyan, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, commented on Facebook on the death of Arsen Gevorgyan, a member of the Strong Armenia party, in a penitentiary institution. He stressed that the Armenian authorities are trampling on the presumption of innocence at the cost of people’s lives.

“For a long time now, we have been saying plainly that arrest in Armenia has become not only an instrument of political repression but an outright evil. Arsen Gevorgyan was protected by the presumption of innocence and the presumption of liberty, both of which were grossly violated by the competent officials. He was solely the responsibility of the state, and under these circumstances we are faced with a horrifying fact.

Understand, at last, that arrest is not a punishment; it is only a preventive measure of last resort. Yet you send many people into unjustified detention because you cannot imagine Armenia without political prisoners and overcrowded prisons. You cannot guarantee even minimal medical care to detainees, but you make sure to send them to penitentiary institutions. To what end? You are trampling on the presumption of innocence at the cost of people’s lives. This is yet another tragic example of the fetishization of arrests, of hatred and of political persecution.

I extend my deepest condolences to Arsen Gevorgyan’s family,” he wrote.

As previously reported by Alpha News, Gevorgyan suffered a heart attack in prison and died suddenly. He was 46.