A man accused of plotting, together with a radical opposition leader, an armed revolt against the Armenian government has refused food for the last three weeks in what is his third hunger strike in less than a year.
The suspect, Nerses Poghosian, was taken into custody following the arrest in June 2016 of Zhirayr Sefilian, the leader of the Founding Parliament opposition movement.
Sefilian was charged with acquiring large quantities of weapons and forming an armed group to seize government buildings in Yerevan. He and other senior members of Founding Parliament deny the charges as politically motivated.
Poghosian is facing similar charges carrying between three and eight years’ imprisonment. He too flatly denies them, saying that he did not even know Sefilian personally and was never affiliated with Founding Parliament.
Poghosian first went on hunger strike in protest against his detention in December. He ended the protest a month later. His second hunger strike lasted for a week, with the authorities again refused to meet his demand.
His third hunger strike began 20 days ago. Poghosian is demanding not only his release from custody but also greater transparency in the ongoing trial of Sefilian, himself and five other men. In addition, he is demanding the replacement of a trial prosecutor who he claims insulted him recently.
Representatives of Armenia’s human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, visited the coup suspect in Yerevan’s Nubarashen prison on Wednesday. “He suffers from headaches and also has stomach and kidney aches,” one of them, Aram Minasian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) on Thursday.
“Nerses Poghosian also said that doctors periodically visit him but that he keeps refusing medical aid,” said Minasian.
Poghosian’s lawyer, Ara Papikian, said that his client is having serious health problems because of the hunger strike.