Harassment of the media, restrictions on free speech: Vazgen Saghatelyan and Narek Samsonyan have been in prison for about a month

Tigran Abrahamyan, a deputy of the NA “I Have Honor” faction, reminds that political prisoners Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan were deprived of their freedom for expressing views that were not pleasing to the authorities, and they have now been in prison for about a month.

“Vazgen Saghatelyan and Narek Samsonyan have been in prison for about a month as part of the broader harassment of the media and restrictions on free speech.

The authorities know they cannot keep the boys in prison for long on fabricated charges, but they do what they can. Against the backdrop of rising arrests, various manifestations of violence, and the hatred incited by the authorities, new people are constantly being targeted – simply for expressing words that are unpleasant to the occupation authorities,” Abrahamyan wrote on his social media page.

Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan were arrested after the Speaker of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan, filed a report against them because the podcast hosts responded to his own insulting statements directed at them.

Following Simonyan’s report, masked security forces entered the homes of Samsonyan and Saghatelyan, arrested them, and later charged them with “using information or communication technologies to commit hooliganism.”

This is not the first time the authorities have pursued Samsonyan and Saghatelyan; they have repeatedly faced pressure and have been detained in the past for criticizing the authorities on air.