Appelant les partis membres de l’ELDR à exercer leur influence sur leurs gouvernements respectifs, MNA réclame la libération inconditionnelle des 14 prisonniers toujours détenus dans les prisons arméniennes.
La Présidente de l’ELDR, Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck a déclaré: “L’Arménie, pays membre du Conseil de l’Europe, doit immédiatement libérer ces prisonniers politiques. Les valeurs de liberté d’expression et d’opinion constituent des valeurs fondamentales du Conseil de l’Europe. Garder les gens en prison pour des raisons politiques et leur refuser le droit au déroulement de la procédure légale est contraire aux obligations de base des états membres du Conseil de l’Europe et constituera certainement un obstacle au rapprochement entre l’Arménie et l’Union européenne.”
 
* MNA a été à la tête du mouvement contre les fraudes lors de l’élection présidentielle de 2008, rassemblant plus de 300.000 manifestants au centre d’Erevan. Selon les chiffres publiés par le gouvernement arménien, Ter-Petrossian aurait obtenu 21,5% des voix tandis que le candidat du parti au pouvoir, le Premier Ministre Serzh Sargsian remportait 52% des voix. Le résultat de l’élection a été contesté par l’opposition. Le rapport final de l’OSCE sur l’élection, publié le 30 mai 2008, soulevait également de sérieux doutes sur le processus électoral.
Des manifestations pacifiques ont été suivies d’heurts avec la police, lors desquels 10 personnes sont mortes,  de nombreux manifestants arrêtés et 150 personnes envoyées en prison. La plupart ont maintenant été libérées sous la pression de l’UE, mais quelques 14 personnes sont encore en prison. Depuis 2008, quelques vingt partis d’opposition, parmi lesquels MNA, se sont rassemblés au sein du Congrès National Arménien pour lutter ensemble en faveur d’élections libres et équitables. Levon Ter-Petrossian est à la tête de ce mouvement.
 
APPEAL
TO THE LIBERAL-DEMOCRATIC AND REFORM PARTY OF EUROPE
17 July, 2010
Dear Colleagues,
The Armenian National Movement is appealing to you with a very important request.
The presidential elections of 19 February, 2008 in Armenia were accompanied by massive violations
of the Constitution and the law, use of violence, and fraud. The popular protest against it was
manifested by daily rallies and marches of hundreds of thousands of people. The authorities resorted
to lethal force on 1 March, 2008 to crush that protest drawing in the armed forces. Ten individuals
were killed. A state of emergence was declared illegally and a massive campaign of arrests ensued.
150 leaders and activists of the opposition wound up in prison as a result. 14 of them, including
members of the Armenian National Movement, are still deprived in prison. It is not just the Armenian
society’s belief that the persecution and the arrests of opposition activists were politically motivated.
In the period between 1 March, 2008 and now, more than a dozen documents have been published
by authoritative international organizations, such as the Presidency of the EU, the PACE, the FIDH,
which have advised or demanded that the Armenian authorities release the political prisoners. Many
of these documents have not shied away from using the term “political prisoner,” and some have just
used its definition – “persons deprived of their liberty for their political views.” During the congress of
FIDH, which took place in Yerevan on 6 April, 300 delegates described those individuals as political
prisoners demanding their immediate release. These individuals have been recognized as political
prisoners in the Annual Human Rights Report of the US State Department. The US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton also demanded their release during her recent visit to Yerevan.
The existence of political prisoners in a member-state of the European Council is a scandal not just
for our country, but for Europe. We believe that their release should become a matter of honor
especially for the liberal-democratic parties of Europe. Hence we appeal to you to exercise your
influence both with your governments and with the relevant international organizations to help the
cause of their release. That will make the participation of the Armenian National Movement in the
family of European liberals particularly meaningful, and will also increase the respect for liberal values
and principles in the eyes of the Armenian society.
We ask you to send this appeal to all the parties that comprise the European Liberal-Democratic and
Reform Party.
The appeal has been approved unanimously by 600 delegates during the 16th Congress of the
Armenian National Congress.