The "Open Letter" of Aram Yuriki Arakelyan, a life convict serving a sentence in "Sevan" Prison of RA Ministry of Internal Affairs, is addressed to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Mr. Nikol Pashinyan, RA Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan, RA Minister of Justice Srbuhi Galyan, RA Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan.
"I inform you that the incomplete work of the judicial and justice system, and sometimes also the inaction, forced me to resort to the not so acceptable, but the only extreme step for me.
I have been in prison for more than 31 years, having been sentenced to death and then to life imprisonment. During the last 5-6 years, the executive has developed humanitarian mechanisms aimed at the correction of our convicts, refusing to punish them from justice, adopted the policy of resocialization so that I and many convicts like me could return to society and be part of our society and A citizen fit for the state. But in practice, everything is different.
As I mentioned, I have been serving my deserved punishment for 31 years. During these years, I have passed and mastered all the resocialization programs that have been developed and implemented. I created my family. I appropriated and actively engage in creative work, allocating all proceeds to charitable foundations.
During these years, I have also had many diseases, one of which, acute ischemic stroke, caused me to become disabled, and due to not receiving appropriate treatment, my disease worsened, which is why I have to take medication for life, and that too on a daily basis. I would like to mention that by the decision No. 825 of May 26, 2006, the Government of the Republic of Armenia established a list of diseases preventing the serving of punishment, which also included the ones I have the disease. On November 4, 2021, the Government of the Republic of Armenia, making the decision No. 1818, edited and modified the list of these diseases, from which my disease was left out, but paragraph 96 of the same decision provides that the punishment is also prevented diseases that threaten life and the complications of which can cause death However, since my sentence is life imprisonment, no body has the courage to step up and give a solution to this problem.
Despite all this, I have not given up and I am fighting for my freedom at all costs. However, the judicial and judicial systems are not only not helping, but on the contrary, they are hindering my progress ranging from the negative position of the successor of the victim to the fact that I am still serving my sentence in the mild conditions of the medium security zone (semi-open mode), stating that the punishment Parole is possible only after being in a low-security zone and serving a certain period of time in those conditions.
Referring to the first argument, the position of the successor of the victim, I find it necessary to point to the Probation Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RA, noting that first of all, the law "On Probation" adopted by the RA National Assembly on May 17, 2016 provides for the duty of a mediator, which is given to the Probation Service. In other words, according to the law, the probation service was obliged to find the edges of reconciliation between me and the victim by the court's decision. with persons recognized as successors, which he did not fulfill. On the contrary, the probation service makes the reconciliation process even more difficult and impossible. In addition, this year, the probation service presented to the court the opinion of the victim's successor, who died in 2021, and the probation service is ready to give me a negative conclusion of parole from serving the sentence. is even to go to law violations by presenting to the court the fictitious successors of the victim, because the successor of the victim can be recognized only by a decision made and enforced by a court, that is, the court that renders the guilty verdict.
Let me remind you that the legislator set a minimum sentence for parole, which according to the law is 20 years, and it does not specify the position of the victim's successor, nor the mandatory conditions of serving the sentence they wait for the "dabro of the superiors" when making a decision on conditional release from the way of working and serving the punishment imposed by the
Realizing that it is foolish to rely only on parole, I have been applying for a leniency petition for more than 4 years, hoping that I will be given the opportunity to show myself as a person fit for society. in the face of the Correctional Service, he does not find courage, determination and courage in himself, refusing every time the question of reducing the conditions of serving my sentence and continuing my sentence in a low security zone. Having been refused by the correctional service for years and appealing these decisions in the courts, I am stuck in place without any expectation that anything will change, 4 years continuously in 3 correctional institutions: "Kosh", "Armavir" and "Sevan", the conditions of my sentence give a positive conclusion on mitigation, but the Correctional Service has been rejecting these petitions all this time, based on 31 years ago, At the age of 21, he used the reasoning to commit a particularly serious crime, thus deviating from humane, human-centered politics and assuming the function of executioner.
All this is exacerbated by the fear of interference by the prosecutors of the department that supervises the use of punishments and other coercive measures, because the prosecutors of that department, having a punitive mentality typical of the Soviet era, do not tolerate any positive changes and make suspension motions at every convenient moment intervene and petition for suspension when seeking incentives or commutations, but never intervene when sentencing or decision to refuse to change the conditions of serving the sentence.
One artificially connected with another, illogical, unfounded and unreasoned, beyond the principle of certainty, such a course of action, which has been going on for almost 5 years, has brought me to such a point that I, having lost faith in fairness and justice, have to take an extreme step.
Hearing the statements of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, about having an independent judicial system and having an efficient and law-abiding justice, but practically feeling the opposite on myself, I am forced to declare a hunger strike, during which I also refuse the medicines that maintain my vitality.
This step of mine is not arbitrary, but a forced step - to be heard, a cry for justice and a cry for help.
This letter is entitled "Open letter" and I hope that it will reach its addressees before the moment when my condition becomes irreversible as a result of the hunger strike and drug withdrawal - in some way related to the issues raised by me, they will respond as much as possible, they will visit "Sevan" Correctional Facility, they will meet with me to get to know the issues in more depth, with facts and in detail purpose".
