The judgment in the case of Jirayr Sefilyan and others was pronounced on 20 March 2018 at the Shengavit Seat (by judge Tatevik Grigoryan) of the General Jurisdiction Court of the City of Yerevan. Jirayr Sefilyan, the commander of the Shushi special military battalion, was convicted to the heaviest sentence—10 years and 5 months of imprisonment. Hovhannes Petrosyan, who collaborated with the law-enforcement bodies, received the most lenient sentence—2 years.

Gevorg Safaryan, member of the “Founding Parliament,” was convicted to 5 years and 5 months of imprisonment. Nerses Poghosyan, civil activist, father of three underage children, was convicted to 3 years and 6 months of imprisonment. Hrayr Topchyan and Sasunik Kirakosyan, heroes of the Artsakh war, as well as Galust Grigoryan, a duduk teacher, were each convicted to 3 years of imprisonment.

The trial that went on for about a year demonstrated the fabricated nature of the case. The fact is that the political persecution of Jirayr Sefilyan had begun years ago: he had been wiretapped since May 2014, on and off for over a year: according to the case materials, the National Security Service had been wiretapping Jirayr Sefilyan’s four telephone numbers, the Investigative Committee—three of his phone numbers, and the Police—two. This demonstrates that the political persecution was planned beforehand.

The examination of the physical evidence in the court was sufficient to understand how fabricated the charges were. Here is an incomplete list of the objects examined by the court: a rusty sword, two machine guns, 100 bullets, two wool blankets, yellow plastic helmets, a flag with the “Centenary without the Regime” inscription, flag poles, a megaphone, a Christmas tree, a military compass, discs with a “Jirayr Sefilyan” inscription, a notepad with a photo of the Garni temple, one dagger, a computer, and flyers that begin with the expression “Dear countrymen.”

As to the two machine guns and 100 bullets, Jirayr Sefilyan’s relationship to them was not substantiated during the trial: the only indirect evidence of it in the whole criminal case file is Hrayr Topchyan’s testimony, which he recanted in court, stating that his earlier testimony had been imposed on him by the pre-trial investigation authority under the threats.

We hereby state that this is nothing but persecution of an opposition political force—the “Founding Parliament,” indicating an encroachment against political activity. It would, thus, be naive to speak of fair trial under these circumstances. The responsibility for this political vendetta is born by those who gave the order, as well as those carrying it out, including the judges, investigators, prosecutors, and police officers.

We have recognized and do recognize Jirayr Sefilyan and others as political prisoners.

We address the international community inside Armenia and outside our country, stating that there are political prisoners in Armenia, who are persecuted for their political ideas through criminal sentences and lengthy prison terms.

We, the human rights organizations, declare that we shall exert every effort for the freedom of not only Jirayr Sefilyan, Gevorg Safaryan, Nerses Poghosyan, Hrayr Topchyan, Sasunik Kirakosyan, and Galust Grigoryan, but also all of our other fellow citizens wrongfully detained and convicted.

Helsinki Committee of Armenia Human Rights Defender NGO
Armenian Innocent Project HRDO
Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor
“Asparez” Journalists’ Club
Transparency International Anticorruption Center
Open Society Foundations-Armenia
Yeghegnadzor Youth Civic Center
Social Justice NGO
New Generation Humanitarian NGO
Peace Dialogue NGO
Hrazdan Youth Civic Center
Public Information and Need of Knowledge (PINK-Armenia) NGO
Helsinki Association Protection of Rights without Borders NGO
Women’s Rights Center NGO
Ejmiatsin Branch of Association of Women with University Education
Real World, Real People NGO
Free Citizen NGO
Armavir Youth Civic Center
Khoran Ard Intellectual NGO
Armenian Constitutional Right-Protective Center NGO
Foundation Against the Violation of Law NGO
Yerevan Press Club
Women’s Resource Center
Analytical Centre on Globalization and Regional Cooperation
Journalists for Human Rights NGO
Women’s Support Center NGO
Gavar Youth Civic Center
Vanadzor Youth Civic Center
Hrazdan Youth Civic Center
My Human Rights Defender NGO
Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression NGO
Institute of Public Policy NGO
Europe in Law Association NGO
Narine Galstyan