I was going to begin my article completely differently — I was going to write about the fact that my case won't be reopened. But the priority today is different. Safarov's return to his homeland [recall, Hungary extradited convicted murderer Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan] shocked us all from top to bottom or the opposite — as you wish. Now everyone's thinking, writing, and talking about this. And this issue is completely incomparable; I don't even want to find common ground. What was carried out was not justice but politics. 

This is just but one view, I agree. I would like our people [Armenians] to carry out politics at least once in a while, when we're talking about a citizen of ours. Our prisons are full of scapegoats, those bearing excessive and wrong sentences, soldiers, and freedom fighters. 

I want to tell you about Soghomon Kocharyan, who was a spy in the Shurnukh battles, was injured twice on the battlefield, who again returned and fought against the Azeris. In 1995, he was accused of murdering an Iranian citizen, an ethnic Azeri named Mirzabek. He was sentenced to death (now life imprisonment).

I'm trying to write concisely and soundly, but behind these dry facts lies a real human tragedy. I'm convinced he was sentenced to death purely with the aim of placating Iran. Well, imagine, 1995, the humanitarian assistance received from Iran… an Azeri disguised as an Iranian citizen was continuing the war with us Armenians on the Yerevan-Meghri road.

It's been 18 years that Soghomon is behind bars; he has a daughter, who's already 18 years old. I wrote about what happened to Soghomon in my book. You know, as well, that twice we escaped from prison together; I was escaping with him because I felt that he's not a criminal by nature. Like me, he too didn't and doesn't accept the deed attributed to him. 

We're coming out into the living world as stock, not engaging in any misdemeanor outside; we're escaping for our voices to be heard, and the system to address these cases. But… stone indifference. Isn't the Hungarian-Azerbaijani slap enough for this stone indifference to now give way?

Indifference is the Mother of All Evil

In this I am convinced just as I know that the Earth on which we live is round. And the inhumane-humane indifference has become owner and master of our lives. Recently, I read in the news that on the occasion of Ramadan, Iran's spiritual leader declared a "revolutionary" pardon. Islamist Iran for the first time pardoned lifers and those accused of serious crimes, excluding some cases when the matter relates to national security.

That which Armenia, the first to adopt Christianity as a state religion, in its 20 years of independence has never paid any attention to lifers and those sentenced to death… If one of you know recall [former Armenian] president [Robert] Kocharian's "amnesty" (by which he replaced the death sentence with life sentences) and say that we have a precedent for amnesty, I will point to the lawsuit already sent by my lawyers to the European Court of Human Rights in which the legality of Kocharian's "amnesty" decree is being disputed. It wasn't an amnesty, but assigning punishment — this is the opinion of many experts. In any case, let's leave this case to experienced attorneys and wait for the European Court's decision. 

My Criminal Case Not Being ReOpened

My article titled "Everyone Knows the Real Motive of the Tragedy" was published on July 20. The circumstances raised in the article were presented by my attorney to the RA Prosecutor General. In addition, the representative of my interests 16 years after the tragic incident of 1996 had uncovered obvious evidence of inaccuracies in the investigation. In particular, when the testimonies were recorded, fabricated witnesses' signatures were on the documents. These newly acquired facts with proof were presented to the Court of Appeals, then also to the General Prosecutor's office.

And can you imagine, they weren't considered sufficient grounds for reopening the case. Meanwhile, I won't stop repeating that 17 years ago, it was the last of the other accused in the case Aram Harutyunyan's testimony (which he changed four times) that served as grounds for sentencing me to death. One testimony and no heavy, undeniable proof. Meanwhile, all of my and my family's appeals to review the case were derived from answers from the prosecutor's office, that new uncovered circumstances are needed.

These were offered but the case was not reopened. The judicial system, both feet in one shoe, rules out the possibility of a judicial error. And accepting this is not a legal issue but a question of will and thought. 

The other day I heard on the radio about a guy who spent 27 years in a US prison fighting for the reopening of his case, and who was released in the US with a justice ruling. A DNA test revealed that the US justice system had made a mistake 27 years ago. And you say that can't be so. 

I also heard on the radio Chamber of Advocates Honorary Member Ruben Rshtuni, who said that one-third of those sitting in Armenian prisons are incorrectly sentenced — or they're serving an excessive sentence or they're innocent. This from a professional's point of view. I see the same from inside. But inside we still have to fight…

Not Misbehaving in Prison is Itself an Achievement

My relatives always try to keep me abreast of the modern world; they send magazines, pieces from the press. In one of these publications I read about a rehabilitation program in a British prison. My first impression: admiration plus astonishment. Those accused of serious crimes had computers; they were working, studying, acquiring funds on their accounts, so that if released early on parole, they would have financial independence. They even have a system of long-term vacation a well-designed program for changing behavior.

And now Armenia. Days ago, I wrote a letter to RA Minister of Justice Hrayr Tovmasyan, asking him to allow a computer without an Internet connection, since I'm editing and working on my second book. But I received a response that read: "Sentenced and imprisoned people are not permitted to use computers." Meanwhile, the media is full of news that say in some penitentiary a computer room was opened. So is all this [just] scenery?

As for studyinh, I wrote that since my adolescence I've been dreaming about a legal profession. It's never too late to learn, but how can a person sentenced to life who doesn't have paid work study at a higher-level institution? Again I wrote to the Ministry of Justice, suggesting a program be developed with a donor organization so that someone bearing a 15-year sentence, consequently, lifers who have the option of parole after serving 5 years of their sentence, have the opportunity to study at reduced tuition rates. But the answer [I received] was the following: "The Ministry of Justice doesn't have sufficient funds to carry out such a program."

One day not yet passed, I heard that the EU had allocated $60 million for judicial reforms. It's interesting — would funds be found from that 60 million for implementing a prison rehab program?

Mher Yenokyan from the Nubarashen prison

P.S. Now I see that I'm not alone, that civil society, people saying no to indifference, are gathering around the issues concerning our society. There's a demand for justice. And together, I'm sure, there's much to do until man no longer remains indifferent to his fellow man.