Jailed Armenian “bread bringer” activist to be released soon: MPMarch 6, 2017 - 11:09 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Jailed activist Artur Sargsyan, who has been staging a hunger strike for the past 25 days, will be released from prison, MP Nikol Pashinyan said in a Facebook post. “We are now formulating the documents,” Pashinyan said. Sargsyan, who is being referred to by many as “the bringer of bread,” was arrested in August 2016 and released in December for taking food to members of the armed Sasna Tsrer group who had seized a Yerevan police station. Sasna Tsrer (Daredevils of Sassoun) stormed a Yerevan police patrol department in mid-July and took everyone inside hostage. Throughout the following days, the group released the captives one by one. After negotiations that lasted for a little over two weeks, the gunmen agreed to surrender to law enforcement bodies. Three police officers were killed during this period. Sargsyan was once again arrested on February 9 and has been on a hunger strike in a prison hospital ever since. Earlier, Pashinyan and another MP, Edmon Marukyan, visited him in prison, with Marukyan later filing a parliamentary petition to Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office demanding a change in precautionary measures against Sargsyan. Top stories David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Partner news | Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. |