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The Armenian authorities’ decision to release the activists of the Founding Parliment after almost a month of pretrial custody is a positive step, Human Rights Watch representative said. 

“Now the authorities should make sure that these charges were not brought in violation of the right to assembly and expression,” said Giorgi Gogia, senior South Caucasus researcher at Human Rights Watch.

The Human Rights Watch recalls that in an April 27 letter to the Prosecutor General, the organization expressed concern about the charges against, and pretrial detention of, the opposition members and called for their release pending the investigation.

“Freeing the activists was the right thing to do, in light of Founding Parliament’s nonviolent views and in the absence of a lawful and credible basis for their detention,” Gogia said. “The authorities should now also ensure the activists’ right to freedom of thought, expression, and assembly.”

Members of the Founding Parliament were released on May 4.

In April the law enforcement officers 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.

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