A sit-in has been announced in front of Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office demanding the release of Lidia Mantashyan, a defendant in the Sacred Struggle case, whose pre-trial detention has been extended by three months.
According to Arman Petrosyan, the organizer of the sit-in, the aim of the protest is to inform the public that there is “a woman political prisoner in Armenia who is charged with preparing an act of terrorism, and that the accusation is baseless.”
“Why am I holding this protest? Because the public remains silent, women’s rights organizations are silent, and so are human rights groups. I am calling on everyone—figures from the arts and culture, members of parliament, especially female MPs, and female journalists—to pay attention. Today, this issue affects Lidia Mantashyan, but tomorrow it could be any of you. I am standing in support of Lidia Mantashyan,” Petrosyan said, as reported by Pastinfo.
He stressed that his sit-in will continue indefinitely, as long as Lidia Mantashyan remains in custody.
“I will continue the sit-in for as long as Lidia Mantashyan is behind the iron doors of a detention facility. I expect impartial action from the Prosecutor’s Office—there is no substantiated charge, no court ruling, no final verdict. I hope many others will join me so that Lidia Mantashyan can be freed while the case is still pending.
The Prosecutor General is a woman, too. I urge her to take that into account and, as a woman, draw the right conclusions from all this,” he added.
The Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction has extended Lidia Mantashyan’s pre-trial detention by three months. Her lawyer, Ruben Melikyan, pointed out on Facebook that the same judge who released 10 male co-defendants in the same case decided to prolong Mantashyan’s incarceration.
