YEREVAN. – European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) can recognize opposition activist Jirair Sefilian and his friends as political prisoners, head of ARF Dashnaktsutyun parliamentary group Armen Rustamyan said.

Asked whether the detained activists can be considered political prisoners, Rustamyan said there are five criteria established by the Council of Europe.

The law enforcement officers on Tuesday had detained Jirair Sefilian, several other initiative members within the operation to prevent mass protests on April 24, 2015.

The Investigative Committee of Armenia released a statement saying that they have prevented the organizing of mass disorder at the places of public events to be held in the country on April 24, the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.

On Thursday, fife members of the initiative were arrested for two months.

The opposition political groups refused to join the calls for change of power, explaining that it is unacceptable to associate internal policy issues with the Armenian Genocide Centennial events.