Vazgen Saghatelyan is being subjected to political repression for his oppositional stance

Political prisoner and co-author of the “Imnemnimi” podcast, Vazgen Saghatelyan, has been unlawfully held in the “Armavir” penitentiary for more than four months.

Vazgen Saghatelyan was arrested on November 13, 2025, after responding to the insults of the person holding the position of Speaker of the National Assembly during an episode of the “Imnemnimi” podcast. His arrest and continued detention represent a classic case of political persecution, carried out through a punitive legal toolkit. Vazgen Saghatelyan is being subjected to political repression solely for exercising his right to free speech and expressing an oppositional stance.

In effect, there is a political prisoner in Armenia who remains behind bars merely for responding to insults directed at him by a public official.

Such intense persecution for speech alone is characteristic of authoritarian systems. In such environments, the silence of political and public actors who hold oppositional views creates favorable conditions for the regime to expand political repression against ever broader segments of society.

Vazgen Saghatelyan is a prisoner of conscience. Tomorrow, any of us could find ourselves in his place.

Freedom for the regime’s political prisoners.